On May 2nd I woke up with a hangover, despite the fact that I hadn’t been drinking the night before. My headache was caused by the thought of Boris Johnson running the capital city and the economic powerhouse of the UK. I’m not trying to make a political point; I’m sure that Steve Norris would […]

James Hulme, Head of Communications, NLGN
Commentisfree.guardian
While Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson have been slugging it out in community halls and talk radio stations all over London, another election is about to take place to elect 25 members of the London Assembly, a body that scrutinises the mayor. You’ll be forgiven if it hasn’t been the […]

Anthony Brand, Principal Researcher
Opendemocracy.net
Stuart Weir’s piece in this column (The iron rule of the central executive, Apr 12 2008) rightly argued that a local government ruled through central dictat will not drive interest in local democracy. Nor will it produce the innovative, personalised services that 21st Century citizens deserve.
Few people would disagree that local […]

Anna Turley
Guardian.co.uk
Timing the London mayoral elections to coincide with the local council elections taking place throughout the country on May 1 has thrown these contests into sharp relief.
On the one hand, there’s a high-profile media frenzy in London. Few cannot be aware they should be at their local polling station on that day to […]