Ken Livingstone

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Former London Mayor Will Advise Chávez

'Red Ken' seals urban planning deal nixed by his successor

(Newser) - Ken Livingstone, London's mayor from 2000 until his election defeat this May, has found a new job: consultant to Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez. "Red Ken," who has long been a supporter of the socialist president, will advise pro-government mayors on urban planning, reports the BBC. Last year...

'Buffoon' Boris Takes London's Mayor Race

Johnson's huge win deals devastating blow to Brown's Labour party

(Newser) - Self-described "buffoon" Boris Johnson won a hard-fought race last night to become mayor of London, the Guardian reports, dealing British PM Gordon Brown's party a stunning loss in his first election test. Johnson unseated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone 53% to 47% after a 15-hour count that ended with a...

Brown, Labor Savaged in UK Elections

Labor posts worst election results in 40 years

(Newser) - Labor has suffered its worst showing in 40 years in local elections across England and Wales. Just one year after Gordon Brown became prime minister, his party pulled only 24% of the projected national vote, 20 points behind the Tories and behind even the third-party Liberal Democrats. As for the...

Down in Polls, Brown Admits 'Mistakes'

Ahead of UK local voting, PM confesses tax missteps

(Newser) - With polls predicting big losses for his Labour party in tomorrow’s local elections, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted he’d made mistakes in the past six months, Reuters reports. Chiefly, Brown acknowledged increasing the tax burden on the lowest-paid workers and those aged 60-64, but said both problems...

Labour Will Lose London, Final Poll Says

Boris Johnson on course for 10-point victory in mayor's race

(Newser) - With 48 hours to go before the election, a final poll gives Boris Johnson a 10-point edge in the race for mayor of London. The shambolic Tory is poised to romp to victory over incumbent Ken Livingstone Thursday, according to the pollster YouGov. The finding is completely at odds with...

Blair Weighs In on London's Neck-and-Neck Mayoral Race

Ex-PM comes to aid of sworn foe Livingstone

(Newser) - With one week to go, the two main candidates in the race for mayor of London—maverick Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone and clownish Tory Boris Johnson—remain neck-and-neck. As the Labour Party realizes that it could lose the most important elected office in Britain, the Guardian reveals that Livingstone is...

Brits 'Duped' Over Olympic Pricetag
Brits 'Duped' Over Olympic Pricetag
Apr 22, 2008 3:00 AM CDT

Brits 'Duped' Over Olympic Pricetag

Government slammed after projected costs soar $10B

(Newser) - The projected pricetag of the 2012 Olympic games in London has more than doubled to $18 billion since the city was picked as host three years ago—and the British  government is being accused of deliberately low-balling estimates to sell the event to the public, the Guardian reports. A public...

Gas-Guzzlers Will Cost Londoners $50 a Day

Mayor's move sparks outrage, applause

(Newser) - In a move to make drivers of gas-guzzlers “pay for the environmental damage they cause,” London’s mayor is imposing a CO2 charge: beginning in October, every private vehicle driven in the central city that doesn’t meet tough emissions standards will cost its owners $50 a day,...

'Buffoon' Leads Incumbent in Race for London Mayor

Boris Johnson holds slight lead for most important elected office in UK

(Newser) - The two leading candidates for mayor of London, Britain's most important elected office, are locked in a neck-and-neck race, according to a new Guardian poll. Ken Livingstone, the fiery Labour incumbent and sworn enemy of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is now running just behind the Conservative challenger: MP Boris...

Corruption Claims Tarnish London Mayor

Top aide accused of funneling millions in city money to friends

(Newser) - London's left-wing mayor Ken Livingstone faced a harsh 3-hour grilling last night over a deepening scandal that has seen the city's equality adviser accused of nepotism and corruption. Hundreds of e-mails and memos released yesterday cast new light on at least $6.6 million in contracts allegedly awarded to friends...

London Transit Strike Off, But Headaches Still On

Tube labor action tangles up entire city

(Newser) - The union representing London’s Tube workers has called off a threatened 3-day strike after a day of shutdowns that hobbled the city’s transit system, but commuters still face lingering aftershocks. Transit of London, which runs the Underground, and the RMT union say they made sufficient progress yesterday to...

'No Go to the Logo,' Say Londoners

Olympics logo is making people not only furious but physically ill

(Newser) - Londoners loathe the logo unveiled Monday for the 2012 Olympics so much that 30,000 have already signed a petition demanding a new one. The jagged pink-and-orange rendition of 2012  took a brand-consultancy firm $800,000 and more than a year to design; Olympics organizers, calling it "dynamic" and...

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