Siobhan Benita’s impossible dream

Sometimes we have dreams so impossible, so fantastic, so incredible that we simply let them fade away with time. Sometimes when we dream we find ourselves so inspired that we actually take that leap into the unknown before an inevitably humiliating ending.

When Siobhan Benita looked around and decided there was space in the Mayoral race for an intelligent, unaffiliated Mayoral candidate there were few who took her seriously. Without a party machine or indeed any political history Benita seemed unlikely to make much of a mark.

Certainly the BBC saw nothing in her candidacy to justify their rules giving her airtime and, without getting on the box, how is an unknown newcomer to break through into the serious running?

Well, against all the odds, she has made waves. Anyone who follows the election through twitter will have come across her growing band of supporters and indeed anyone who reads the broadsheets will have found it difficult to avoid finding out about her candidacy.

Benita has had incredibly supportive coverage in the Independent (including the front page), the FT, Times, Observer and Guardian. She’s had large features devoted to her in the Evening Standard and seems to have a flair for winning the press to her point of view in an election dominated by two stale old men much of the electorate has seen more times than they can count.

Endorsements

It isn’t just the internet warriors who’ve come out in support of Siobhan either. Last week the ex-Conservative cabinet minister, Michael Portillo, appeared to endorse Benita ahead of Tory candidate Johnson on the basis of her support for a third runway at Heathrow. This is the latest in a string of impressive endorsements for the ex-Whitehall mandarin, although some endorsements may be less welcome.

Whether this is Sir Gus O’Donnell, Martin Bell, Tom Conti, or David Aaronovich, we have a string of seemingly serious people willing to give an outsider the nod. As Mattthew Taylor said “She probably hasn’t got a hope but I like the idea that challenges to our current mediocre political mainstream can come from the thoughtful centre not just the wilder extremes.”

Policies

I think it’s fair to say that the majority of Benita’s policies are attempts to manage London better “without a party political agenda”, which has a certain appeal. Of course nothing is apolitical and some of her policies, like her support for a third runway for Heathrow are deeply controversial, particularly for those who live in the flight path, as indeed are many of her pro-business policies.

The slogan “People not Politics” may well cut with a fair few voters but if you’re standing for election to one of the most powerful positions in the land then politics is where you are whether you like it or not.

Her comments on health, as a former insider, were strong, progressive and very welcome and as such it’s a shame that she has not made more of them at a time when such deeply damaging reforms to the NHS are being carried out by a government that had promised, pre-election, that there would be no more top down re-organisations of the health service.

Weak points tend to be that some policies are either too ambiguous to have real meaning (zero tolerance on dog poo and taking action on foxes, for example) or, perhaps most crucially, the focus on education which the Mayor has no powers over. However, as all the other candidates seem to be awarding themselves powers in their rush to make promises to the electorate why can’t she?

Youth and policing

Her strongest policy suit appears to be around youth and policing. Her strong statements that we should stop treating every group of young people as a problem waiting to happen makes a refreshing change from the sterile exchanges on the numbers of police officers or politicians who seem to want to ramp up the fear factor. It’s a positive, pro-community message that needs to be heard far more.

Her promise to create a “youth mayor” doesn’t cut much ice with me, who’s seen a few too many of these vanity positions to be impressed, but it goes down well with young people – as you might expect. In fact, its among the younger, less jaded voters that Benita seems to garner much of her support. In a political world where the parties seem distant and unresponsive to “ordinary people” a more humane, less dogmatic approach has real appeal.

So can she win?

We’ve heard the good, but it’s not all plain sailing. Lots of the political class hate her and every vote she gets will be seen, by them, as a poke in the eye for “proper politics”. That’s actually quite a tempting proposition come to think of it.

Benita’s easy going manner and natural flair for the one liner makes her a strong contender who would have faired very well in head to head debates, had she been allowed to take part. However, without thousands of activists knocking on doors, putting up posters and campaigning in their patch that TV coverage was vital to her campaign without which it will simply be impossible to build up the required momentum to make a real dent in this election.

She’s certainly had more than her fair share of print coverage and finding yourself on the front page of the Independent is extraordinarily good going for Benita and her team. That’s an impressive achievement and it’s the reason why people are still talking about her, but it’s not enough.

Like many people new to electoral politics, it’s likely she is over-estimating her ability to capture people’s votes. Candidates tend to think in terms of likability, policies, and campaign design but in reality without the machine to deliver your message direct to the voters even saving the deposit will be an impressive achievement.

Predictions

Siobhan Benita will be at the top of the mayoral ballot paper on May 3rd which, in itself, is worth a stack of votes. If she does win enough votes to save her deposit she will have achieved what many others before her have tried and failed to do.

What she wont be able to do is elbow her way into third or second place. It would probably be very good for London’s politics if she could, but from a standing start this January it just isn’t very likely.

Benita is a political independent who thinks London could be managed better free from the tedious bickering of the established tribal parties. It’s an honest position, if a rather niave one.

London does deserve better than our current crop of representatives, but to displace them you need a force powerful enough to do more than simply poke them in the eye, no matter how satisfying that might feel from time to time. For that you need a name people have heard of, a machine that can deliver your message and a reason to come out and vote for you beyond competence and likability. In other words, politics.