Boris Johnson has decided not to appear at our Mayoral hustings tonight at the University of London. As The Guardian picked up on today, this isn’t the only time that the Conservative candidate’s campaign team have hustled him out of the limelight. Could it be that they’re so nervous about the gaffe prone candidate that they’re not even allowing him to speak to the public?
Tag Archive for 'london'
It’s not been an easy ride for our team of Time Out journalists and volunteers, but after four weeks we’ve done it: successfully raised the £10,000 minimum required to stand for Mayor of London. We’ve also collected the 330 signatures of registered voters from 33 boroughs (ten per borough) every candidate must supply. Great, lets stand for Mayor of London then…
Well, actually, let’s not. This campaign was never just about Michael Hodges becoming Mayor, it was about putting your concerns on the Mayoral agenda and fighting an electoral system that is inherently unfair and undemocratic. That’s why we opened up the pages of Time Out, and this website, so you could help us shape what is truly a people’s manifesto. Your manifesto. To be honest, we were staggered by how much passion, verve and imagination you mustered for this particular cause. We also learned that you don’t necessarily want grand or radical policies but the small and simple things which, if implemented, would improve life in this city immensely.
Every turn of this campaign seemed to reveal uncomfortable truths about London democracy. Gathering the required signatures was hard enough for us, a well-staffed weekly magazine, but for ordinary Londoners wishing to stand as independent candidates, it’s almost impossible. Political parties get access to the electoral rolls for every London borough. They also have teams of party workers who are paid to go out and chase the signatures. Is this any way to run a genuinely democratic city?
We are proposing an early day motion in the House of Commons, which will call for an end to discriminatory barriers that prevent Londoners like you contributing to the running of your own city. So, although we have qualified to enter the race, we are withdrawing from the official election, but fighting on against the system that’s let you – and London – down.
The Time Out Mayoral campaign stops but the people’s manifesto lives on. And to ensure it does, we will be putting its key demands to each of the main candidates over the coming weeks.
We hope they listen to you. To find out more, and to get involved, visit the Time Out site.
Gordon Thomson, editor of Time Out, and Michael Hodges, Time Out Mayoral candidate
Well what an interesting night, and not just because I fell asleep on the train home and ended up in an old people’s home in Gillingham at three o’clock this morning. No, interesting because Time Out readers came in their droves to our quiz and proved our platform to be correct - that is, they are clued-up bright and generally the best people in London - by displaying an astounding amount of knowledge about our fair city.
This wasn’t any old quiz but a fiendishly tough one devised and delivered by Marcus Berkmann, the master of the form and author of the rightly lauded ‘Prince of Wales Quiz Book’. Thanks to everyone that came but since you had a free drink, I am informed by the electoral commission that it would be a criminal offence if I then asked you to vote for me. So don’t, ah, vote for me (if you get my drift).
Read what the crack team of London bloggers had to say about the evening (and their less-than-perfect performance!)
And there’s a report from the Word magazine’s admirable team who are still deluding themselves they came joint third. In reality, they fell at the final tiebreaker hurdle and missed out on a slap-up meal for six at the Wagamama of their choice.
Photo credit: Jonathan Perugia
Our campaign for mayor has registered at number seven on the Londonelectsyou website after only 24 hours online and I am currently featured as candidate of the day. Or rather you are, as we remain the only campaign with a manifesto written by the people and for the people. Don’t forget you can still contribute as we have a few days before we announce our full manifesto. Elsewhere Wednesday’s Evening Standard featured our wind-up toy race outside City Hall last week and the LondonPaper chose to publish a picture of me looking remarkably fat and bumptious. Thanks for that.
Find out at Time Out’s exclusive London-themed Mayoral pub quiz, held on Tuesday March 18 at a central London boozer. Questions will be compiled by a London expert and there will be prizes, as well as a free drink for every competitor. If you have a team of six you would like to enter for this sensational event, email mayor@timeout.com or just post your details on here and we’ll get back to you.
We want you, the capital’s sharpest citizens, to shape Time Out’s manifesto. That way we will be representing real Londoners rather than well-financed interest groups.
Here are some of the ideas we’ve already received:
‘Bring in FREE wi-fi across London. The internet is the greatest tool of knowledge – it should be free for everyone, not just coffee shop dwellers.
Bring down the price of cab hire – it’s a rip-off.
Change all traffic light bulbs to LED ones – huge savings can be made. Good for the environment too.’ Rumpleproofskin
Here it is! The hotly-anticipated lo-fi film of the Time Out Cake Challenge which brought chaos to Oxford Street and gave a huge boost to the Hodge’s campaign. We raised some money, made some new friends and most importantly spread our message to the people who really matter - ordinary Londoners. Watch the footage of us doing what we do best - saving the city from politicians and handing out free cake.
So why should a bad-tempered former toilet cleaner from the North Riding of Yorkshire be Mayor of London? Well, a long time ago, a farm boy from Gloucester called Dick Whittington managed something similar. But more importantly, the relative obscurity of my beginnings actually counts in my favour – I came to London by choice not accident of birth and now, after more than 20 extraordinary years in this occasionally strange, frequently unsettling but always addictive city, it is time to put something back.
I’ll admit I lack some of the qualifications of the three main candidates – I didn’t go to Eton, I have no experience of running a major city and I did not achieve a high rank in the Metropolitan Police. But my experience of being a Londoner means I understand this city in a way that the other candidates don’t.
As well as cleaning the capital’s toilets I have worked as a doorman, been a professional bongo player, fitted the air-conditioning unit at the Chelsea Cinema on the Kings Road, been knocked down twice on London streets (by different cars), been ejected from several art galleries, recorded a single, put the roof on the University of North London, been booed off stage in Brixton, had a drug-induced breakdown in a Kilburn cemetery, rowed the Boat Race course, been chased by Millwall fans, managed a pub (not for long, things got out of hand) and had several knives pulled on me.
I have lived in Greenwich, Camberwell, Putney, Barnes, Balham, Clapham, Shooters Hill, Battersea and on a boat on the Thames. I’ve even crossed the river and laid my head in Tufnell Park. In short I have lived a London life, and that experience makes me uniquely qualified among the runners for Mayor of London.
But I don’t just bring my own life to the mayoral campaign; I hope to involve your lives as well. I see myself as representing you – London’s most knowledgeable, canny and generally clued-up citizens. This really is your campaign and my objective is to get your voice heard. I’m also planning to have some fun along the way.
I am not just standing against the other candidates, and if I am honest there is much in the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green manifestos that I agree with. Nor is this an extended joust with Boris Johnson (although extended jousts with Boris in public parks with mud flinging, food stalls and flagons of mead would be very popular) but a serious attempt to shake up a system that presently lets Londoners down.
I may not win, I may not even raise enough money for the nomination (I’m chasing £10,000
and since the cash machine swallowed my bank card last week I’ll be needing help) but, just perhaps, we can pick up some momentum and let the career politicians know that the votes of 200,000 Time Out readers cannot be taken for granted.
And, like Dick Whittington, I’ve got a cat.
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