Elliot Folan: Why I’m voting Jen then Ken

In the second in our short series on how Londoners are using their second preferences Elliot Folan (pictured with Ken Livignstone) explains why he’s voting for Ken Livingstone, after the Greens’ Jenny Jones.

So, on May 3 Londoners will have a field of 7 candidates to choose between. Of the main parties – in other words, the ones who have a track record of representation in London – the Green Party is the only one who, in my view, offer a fresh and inspiring vision for London.

From building a sensible and accessible transport system to fighting harder than anyone else to make London a low-carbon city, I think Jenny Jones would make the best Mayor of London out of any of the seven candidates on offer.

But, as London Elects has been pointing out to people, I am also able to cast a second preference for the candidate I least hate, or most prefer out of the other alternatives.

And this time round, the second preference is really between Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone, as polls indicate they are the candidates most likely to go through to the second round.

And for me, my second preference really has to go to Ken Livingstone. Partly, that’s because he’ll be better than Boris.

Ken’s Not Boris

Boris Johnson’s policies have been a disaster for London. His solution to London’s air pollution was to glue it to the roads around monitors, and his planning policies benefit cars and trucks at the expense of people and cyclists. As for transport, he’s famously increased bus fares by 50% since 2008, and wasted the money on vanity projects like his Boris Bus and cable-car. I want my fares to be paying for tube investment and running costs – not shiny buses that break down on their first run.

And, of course, his attitude to London has been disgraceful. Refusing to come back from holidaying in Canada during the London riots, he now claims he came back as soon as he could, just another example of his many attempts to whitewash his record. He has not stood up for young Londoners like myself over tuition fees or EMA, or for the rights of unemployed and disabled Londoners who are being hammered by the Tories’ welfare reforms.

But I also support Ken Livingstone because he would make a genuinely better Mayor.

An inspiration

Because in the stale, neoliberal-dominated politics of modern Britain, there are few politicians who can inspire young people like me. The number can be counted on one hand. Caroline Lucas. Leanne Wood. Jeremy Corbyn. John McDonnell. Why do these people have the ability to inspire others?

Mainly, because of the force of their vision and their determination to make that vision reality. But more than anything else, it is because they care.

And they care so much about making this country, and the world, a better place that it drives everything they do, and they make it their life’s work to change the world.

And if there is anybody who thinks that Ken Livingstone does not care, they do him – and this city – a disservice. We need only look around ourselves. He didn’t need to run for Mayor of London, or leader of the GLC. But he did it anyway.

He didn’t need to endure almost daily criticism and negative press coverage for every scheme he proposed, idea he had or battle that he fought. But he did it anyway.

He didn’t need to fight Thatcher in a way better than Neil Kinnock ever managed, or to fight Blair’s control freakery in a bigger way than anybody else did. But he did it anyway.

And we see the results every day.

Delivery

From a public transport system that genuinely works, to driving down crime, from the congestion charge to the refurbishment of Trafalgar Square, Ken Livingstone has made London an immeasurably better place.

But he’s done more than be a glorified councillor.

He stood up for gay rights when no-one else would, fought Thatcher and then Blair, and defended Londoners’ democratic rights when the Tories scrapped London’s government.

There have been mistakes, and there’s been criticism, and often Ken has not been perfect. Few people are.

But I don’t like to think of the bad times, when Londoners felt embarrassed. I like to think of the good times, when we’ve felt proud to be Londoners.

And there have been good times.

The day that he won – a month after I turned four – when he stood up and showed that socialism could win elections, against all the lies and spin of Blair.

The day that London won the right to host the Olympics.

The day that, in the midst of horrific tragedy, Ken Livingstone helped bring London together when others wanted to divide it.

And there will be yet another day that I can be proud to be a Londoner.

When a man or woman who believes in equality, and diversity, and democracy, and fairness, is once again elected the leader of this great city.

Change never came from people who were content to manage decline, or who saw a political office as a stepping stone on the way to another. It came from people who cared.

From people who inspired others with their dedication. Only two candidates can offer that sort of leadership: Jenny Jones and Ken Livingstone. So that’s why I’m voting Jen Then Ken on May 3.