Not as a Conservative candidate and certainly not as a Conservative/Lib Dem hybrid.
A Conservative/Lib Dem joint candidate would be doomed to failure. I believe this for two reasons, firstly it would be very difficult to persuade either Conservative party members or the Lib Dems to actually campaign for them.
I cannot imagine the Conservatives in Bromley & Chislehurst and Orpington would be keen to support a Lib Dem candidate or even a half a Lib Dem candidate. In both constituencies our parliamentary candidates have been on the receiving end of some very unfair personal attacks by the Lib Dems which has left them and their local associations with a bad taste in their mouths.
There may well be Lib Dem MPs who are sensible and quite close to the Conservative party’s positions on some of issues but there is no great love of the Lib Dems at a local level across most of London.
The second reason is that it would provide Livingstone with the perfect campaigning position. He would paint himself as the plucky underdog being ganged up on by the big parties.
Let me make my view on this clear, it is not essential to have a “big name” candidate. Livingstone has an appalling track record as Mayor and can be beaten purely on his record in office. London does not need, nor want another shallow, showman obsessed with his own extreme personal agenda.
What we need is a sound, sensible and honest Mayor who cares for all of London and all Londoners. That is what I will be campaigning for.
James Cleverly AM 
JamesCongrats on your selection for Bexley and Bromley. An EGM was held in Lewisham Town Hall tonight to discuss a motion to start consultation on local peoples’ views on the directly elected mayor. Labour managed to defeat the motion, largely due to the absence of two of the Tories and the third one deciding to vote with Labour. Given you made opposition to the directly elected mayoral system a key part of your election campaign last year, have you any thoughts on this? 😉Best wishesSue
JamesCongrats on your selection for Bexley and Bromley. An EGM was held in Lewisham Town Hall tonight to discuss a motion to start consultation on local peoples’ views on the directly elected mayor. Labour managed to defeat the motion, largely due to the absence of two of the Tories and the third one deciding to vote with Labour. Given you made opposition to the directly elected mayoral system a key part of your election campaign last year, have you any thoughts on this? 😉Best wishesSue
Amen – whoever wins an open primary will have earnt the right and will get sufficient media exposure by default. But I feel that maybe our views are meaningless when our leadership feels unashamed to go over our heads on this one.
Amen – whoever wins an open primary will have earnt the right and will get sufficient media exposure by default. But I feel that maybe our views are meaningless when our leadership feels unashamed to go over our heads on this one.
James,Sue Luxton’s comments are spot on.The Lewisham West and also the Lewisham East Conservatives submitted a petition opposing the Executive Mayor system. Yet, of the three Conservative Councillors on Lewisham Council two of them failed to turn up. The one who was there (Barire Anderson) voted with Labour councillors and againsst allowing a consultation to start.Cllr David Britton signed a letter to Barry Quirk (chief executive of Lewisham Council) calling for an emergency Full Council to debate this issue. To call for a meeting and then not turn up…. it is hardly impressive is it? And where was Hilary Downes?The Conservative Councillors have already voted for Lewisham council taxpayers to continue funding (10K a year) the New Local Government Network – an organisation run by a defeated Labour MP and which is committed to extending Executive Mayors. The organisation has also faced fraud by one of its employees in recent years. Why should Lewisham council taxpayers be giving a political organisation such as this even a penny?The record of Lewisham Conservative concillors last night just shows how inconsistent and incompetent they are.
James,Sue Luxton’s comments are spot on.The Lewisham West and also the Lewisham East Conservatives submitted a petition opposing the Executive Mayor system. Yet, of the three Conservative Councillors on Lewisham Council two of them failed to turn up. The one who was there (Barire Anderson) voted with Labour councillors and againsst allowing a consultation to start.Cllr David Britton signed a letter to Barry Quirk (chief executive of Lewisham Council) calling for an emergency Full Council to debate this issue. To call for a meeting and then not turn up…. it is hardly impressive is it? And where was Hilary Downes?The Conservative Councillors have already voted for Lewisham council taxpayers to continue funding (10K a year) the New Local Government Network – an organisation run by a defeated Labour MP and which is committed to extending Executive Mayors. The organisation has also faced fraud by one of its employees in recent years. Why should Lewisham council taxpayers be giving a political organisation such as this even a penny?The record of Lewisham Conservative concillors last night just shows how inconsistent and incompetent they are.
You can discuss the prospects for directly elected mayors for other Conservative areas with James’s new found friends in Bromley and Bexley on < HREF="http://bexleyandbromleyconservatives.org/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=25" REL="nofollow">their forum<>. Is there a change in policy we should know about, or are Conservative councillors in Lewisham useless?
You can discuss the prospects for directly elected mayors for other Conservative areas with James’s new found friends in Bromley and Bexley on < HREF="http://bexleyandbromleyconservatives.org/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=25" REL="nofollow">their forum<>. Is there a change in policy we should know about, or are Conservative councillors in Lewisham useless?
So who dreamed up Greg Dyke in the first place? I think I can guess. And if – yes if – DC wins and then some New Labour apparatchiks (spelling?) ‘cross the floor’ to ‘join us’ then the direct debit stops forthwith. In fairness to Barrie, however, the Chairman of a meeting should never use a vote to change the status quo and I hope that is what happened. Ralph
So who dreamed up Greg Dyke in the first place? I think I can guess. And if – yes if – DC wins and then some New Labour apparatchiks (spelling?) ‘cross the floor’ to ‘join us’ then the direct debit stops forthwith. In fairness to Barrie, however, the Chairman of a meeting should never use a vote to change the status quo and I hope that is what happened. Ralph