London: Mayor & More

Boris Johnson's Donors

From the FT:

"The Tory team arranged several lavish events for donors, including one that went through 48 bottles of Renard-Barnier champagne. Three Johnson supporters gave more than £1,000 of wine from their own cellars for other events. In his return to electoral authorities, Mr Johnson names almost 250 donors who gave between £100 and £25,000.

Corporate donations in-cluded: £25,000 from Addison Lee, the taxi and courier group; £5,000 from Orange Aero, the aircraft engine maker; and smaller sums from property groups. Prominent City donors included: Sir Mark Weinberg, of St James’ Palace Capital; Franck Petitga, of Morgan Stanley; Sebastian Grigg, of Credit Suisse; Ryan Robson, of Sovereign Capital; and Crispin Odey, of Odey Asset management. Ivan Fallon, chief executive of Independent News and Media, the owner of the Independent, donated £100."

Remember those names!

Ken Livingstone In Stoke Newington

A mile up the road from me in Stoke Newington High Street just after 4.00 this afternoon. More here.

Also featuring Diane Abbott MP, Jennette Arnold AM and the back of a man's head.

Simon Hughes 4 Ken Livingstone?

From the Press Association:

Former mayoral candidate Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, urged voters to cast their second preference for someone who had served London already. 'Brian Paddick is eminently qualified to be Mayor of London, as a Londoner by birth and upbringing, who has served this city with dedication for his whole career,' Mr Hughes said. 'Brian Paddick knows exactly what is needed to make our capital respectful, prosperous and safe. I shall enthusiastically give Brian Paddick my first vote and call on all Londoners to do the same. 'I hope all voters will use the same test to decide their second vote as well. 'Nobody who has not served London and worked for London in the past deserves to have the votes of Londoners or the top political job in London in the future.'"

Does that sounds like coded language to you? Just wondering.

[There's no link, cos I can't find one. But I'm quoting straight from the PA service to the Guardian ]

Ken Livingstone Campaigning In Southall

I was there with him yesterday, complete with cast of thousands. The clip captures him coming up the hill towards Southall station before heading down the busy Broadway. You'll spot the Beeb's Gavin Hewitt racing ahead. Love that campaign bus bringing up the rear.

At Londonist

The endgame begins.

One of the few things we can be sure of about the mayoral race is that Boris and Ken in particular are knackered. But with just three full campaigning days remaining they must now run harder than ever. If the opinion polls are telling us anything it is that neither can be certain which of them will win and that every single vote – first or second preference - is precious to them.

At The Guardian: Another Week Ends

My latest end-of-week roundup.

It’s all about mobilisation now: frightening, begging, bribing, cajoling, doing whatever it takes to get people on your side and to persuade them to visit a polling station on Thursday. Nobody knows who’s going to win except that it won’t be Gerard Bratten, Lindsey German, Alan Craig, Winston McKenzie, Matt O’Connor (who’s just dropped out anyway), Sian Berry, Brian Paddick or some gay skinflick director whose name escapes me. The one thing everyone agrees on is that turnout holds the key, but even then they can’t agree on which of the two potential winners commands the deeper loyalty.

Ken Livingstone's Open Letter To Lib Dems

Yes, Jane Merrick's story in today's Sindie - mentioned below - was bang on. The letter has now been published on the Livingstone campaign website. Here's a slice:

"The second preference votes of Lib Dem supporters are likely to be critical in deciding the outcome of this election. Both Boris Johnson and I will be campaigning to persuade Lib Dems to back us. My pitch is simple - I agree with about 90% of Lib Dem policy and I want to involve Liberal Democrats in my mayoral administration. In contrast Boris Johnson disagrees with many fundamental Lib Dem policies and has been highly disparaging of Lib Dems in the past, whom he referred to as having ‘a characteristic human psychological deformity': I do not pretend that I share every single Lib Dem policy but on 90 per cent of issues we agree and we are part of the same progressive tradition in London. And that set of shared values shines through in the many areas where we agree and where we have worked together. I am publishing examples of these areas of agreement because it highlights how we can work together."

Now read on.

Vanessa Feltz Debate

Paddick, Livingstone and Johnson debate on BBC London from NOW.

Tactical Voting

Stop Boris offers this guide. In the interests of fair play I should probably add that if it's Ken you want to stop, just substitute "Boris" for "Ken" and "Ken" for "Boris" whilst reading it and proceed accordingly!

BBC Question Time

It's tonight at 10.35.