The Importance of being Independent

The election of Ken Livingstone as an Independent candidate for Mayor of London in 2000 shows that it is possible for an Independent to be elected to high office, out-polling the official candidates of corrupt political party machines in the process.

Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned by nationalists from this episode of recent political history, particularly in view of the very low esteem in which professional politicians of every colour are now held by the electorate.

Whereas the large outlay required for an effective London-wide campaign may currently be beyond the reach of the capital's nationalists, they might adopt to their advantage a strategy having certain features in common with that employed by Ken Livingstone in 2000.

Standing only in certain carefully selected London Assembly constituencies, with no competition from either the British National Party or the National Front, Independent nationalists, even if not elected, might well do better than they would otherwise have done, had they stood under a nationalist party label.

Many activists and donors might be more willing generously to assist the campaign of a group of highly respected Independent nationalists, standing on a common platform, than they would be to assist either the BNP, under its current leadership, or the NF.

A small solution and perhaps the most effective in the circumstances.

The following are two excerpts from the Wikipedia article, Ken Livingstone.

In 1997, the Labour government established a new Greater London Authority that would be controlled by a directly elected mayor. Despite the fact that Labour leader Tony Blair opposed Livingstone and expelled him from the party, Livingstone still ran successfully for the post of London Mayor, being elected as an independent candidate in 2000. During his first term, he organised an upgrade of the London transport system and introduced the London congestion charge. He later rejoined the Labour Party, and was again elected mayor in 2004, following which he continued supporting and expanding such policies. In the 2008 mayoral elections, he was beaten by Conservative candidate Boris Johnson.

First Mayoral Term: 2000-2004

Livingstone was again re-elected in the 1997 general election, in which Labour was returned to power under the leadership of Tony Blair. Among Labour's proposals was the establishment of a Greater London Authority which was to be a strategic body: unlike the GLC the Greater London Authority would not provide any services to Londoners directly. The new Greater London Authority would be headed by a directly elected mayor, who would be watched over by a 25-member Assembly.

Despite having earlier criticised the specific proposals for a new London-wide authority, Livingstone was widely tipped for the new post of Mayor. The mayoral election was scheduled for 2000, and in 1999, Labour began the long and trying process of selecting its candidate. Despite Blair's personal antipathy, Livingstone was included on Labour's shortlist in November 1999, having pledged that he would not run as an independent if he failed to secure the party's nomination. William Hague, then-Leader of the Opposition taunted Blair at Prime Minister's Question Time: "Why not split the job in two, with Frank Dobson as your day mayor and Ken Livingstone as your nightmare?"[44]

Labour chose its official candidate on 20 February 2000. Although Livingstone received a healthy majority of the total votes, he nevertheless lost the nomination to former Secretary of State for Health Frank Dobson, under a controversial system in which votes from sitting Labour MPs and MEPs were weighted more heavily than votes from rank-and-file members.[45] On 6 March, Livingstone announced that he would run against Dobson as an independent, confirming speculation that he would renege on his earlier pledge. He was suspended from the Labour Party the same day and expelled on 4 April. Tony Blair said that Livingstone as mayor would be a "disaster" for London; he later said he was wrong in that prediction.[46]

The result of the election was a Livingstone victory: Dobson, who it was alleged, had been pressured into running by the party leadership, unsuccessfully based his campaign on claims that Livingstone was an egomaniac, and the Conservatives remained becalmed after their catastrophic national defeat in 1997. Livingstone came out ahead in the first round of balloting with 38% of first-preference votes to Conservative Steven Norris's 27%; Dobson finished third, with 13% of all first-preference votes — just ahead of Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer, with 12%. Under the supplementary voting system employed for the election, only the votes cast for Livingstone and Norris were considered in the second round, where Livingstone won with 58% of first- and second-preference votes, versus 42% for Norris.

Livingstone continued to sit in parliament, as an independent (having had the Labour whip withdrawn), until standing down at the 2001 general election.