
Londoners decide on a mayor for the capital today in the four-yearly local elections, and leading the polls is Conservative candidate Boris Johnson. This is the man quoted as saying "Out of my way, small car driven by ordinary person on modest income. Make way for the Nissan Murano!"
London residents are fed up with incumbent mayor, Labour MP Ken Livingstone, who has been running the city for eight years now. Opposing candidate and Tory Boris Johnson, however, seems like a dubious contender for the post. Calling Ugandans "picaninnies", George Bush "liberator of Iraq" and that for obese people it's "their own fat fault", London's left-wingers are anxious about seeing the blonde bombshell in charge of a budget of £11.3bn (€14.5bn) and a city of 7.5 million multicultural residents.
David Duff is a conservative supporter from the south of England. He is retired and runs the blog Duff and Nonsense

He tends, as my old mother used to put it, to open his mouth and let his belly rumble which is actually rather refreshing when contrasted to the ultra-careful mumblings of other MPs terrified of upsetting their PR advisers. For example, recently he used the word "piccaninnies" in referring to black children and all the usual po-faced suspects leaped up and down screeching imprecations. It was also a word used, famously, by Enoch Powell 40 years ago so that, too, added to the furore."
Kel is a left-wing political commentator from London and runs the blog The Osterley Times.

On driving Chelsea tractors through London Boris says:
"Tee hee, I said to myself ... out of my way, small car driven by ordinary person on modest income. Make way for the Nissan Murano."
Please note
"ordinary" people are defined by their "modest" income
which presumably makes high income earners extraordinary.
Boris has also compared gay marriage to bestiality. Is this really the person
that one would want representing the most multicultural city on Earth? Can one
imagine any other politician being able to call black children
"piccanninies" and comparing gay marriage to bestiality and for them
not to be hounded out of office?
But then there are his actual policies."
An election campaign poster encouraging Londoners, who are often distracted by mice on the underground, to vote on May 1st.
Ken Livingstone and Liberal Democrat challenger Brian Paddick at a mayoral election seminar held by a gay and lesbian lobby group.
A pro- Livingstone newspaper advert.
Influential graffiti artist, Banksy, famous for his rats, commits his vote to Ken Livingstone.
Comments
I find Boris amusing
Submitted by Judy Online (not verified) on Sun, 03/08/2008 - 17:24.Neither candidate was really worthy of my vote ... but Boris is at least clever, and funny. Livingstone has shown himself to be consistently anti-semitic, so I'm less than concerned by claims that Boris is bigoted. So's Ken, so it's a non-issue.
Boris Johnson
Submitted by Anonyme (not verified) on Fri, 02/05/2008 - 18:04." homophobic racist " my left foot. Witty and charismatic Boris Johnson has the right profile to be the next Mayor of London .
No, it's a sad day for
Submitted by Anonyme (not verified) on Fri, 02/05/2008 - 21:43.No, it's a sad day for London... anyone who doesn't see the homophobia and racism in what he's said and done - and not that long ago, either - really has a problem. He's a pathetic joke and now the joke's on us.