Tessa Jowell plans to run for London Mayor in 2016 as Labour candidate in fight to succeed Boris Johnson November 22, 2014 Veteran Labour MP and former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell has thrown her hat in the ring for the race to succeed Boris Johnson as London Mayor in 2016. The former culture secretary told the BBC she is "certainly planning to run" for mayor. However, she added that now "isn't time for a formal declaration". Jowell [...]
How Labour will transform politics – and public services – by devolving more powers to London September 22, 2014 ANYONE who campaigned in the Scottish referendum felt the strength of anger directed towards Westminster. And it’s not confined to Scotland. The same anger is felt in London, Manchester and across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. People feel Westminster and Whitehall are completely out of touch with their lives. This is no surprise. Britain is [...]
In pictures: Ed Balls involved in bloodbath at MP charity game September 21, 2014 This week, the political excitement has migrated south from Scotland to Manchester, where Labour has started its annual party conference. What better way to kick things off (literally) than with the now infamous MPs versus lobby hacks footie match? And it was a goodie. MPs including Ed Balls, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham donned their [...]
Any Scots want to see Ed Balls in shorts? Vote No to independence on Thursday September 15, 2014 One further casualty of a potential Scottish Yes vote can now be revealed – the annual appearance of Ed Balls struggling to come to terms with a tight-fitting football shirt. Yes, Sunday’s match between the gentlemen of the press and Labour MPs at the party conference in Manchester is likely to be cancelled by a [...]
Outsider David Lammy seeks first-mover advantage in London Mayor bid September 4, 2014 Labour MP David Lammy has made an early bid for his party’s nomination to be the next London Mayor. The Tottenham MP threw his hat into the ring yesterday morning, nearly a year to the day since he first announced he was considering running for the coveted London role. “I spent a long [...]
Capita share price up as outsourcing firm picked for new prisoner tagging contract July 16, 2014 Outsourcing firm Capita will manage a six-year prisoner tagging contract previously held by G4S and Serco, the Ministry of Justice confirmed yesterday. The FTSE 100-listed company has been managing the service on an interim basis since April, after G4S and Serco were found to have overcharged the government. The new contract is worth £228.8m. Three [...]
Someone just paid £24k to play football against Ed Balls July 10, 2014 A bidder at last night’s Labour party fundraiser paid £24,000 to play two games of football against the shadow chancellor. The unknown bidder paid well above the asking price of £2,500, offering £13,000 for a single game and raising the bid to £24,000 when Balls offered to play a second match. It's still a long [...]
Labour party to auction £140k of art work and Sir Patrick Stewart voicemail message at election gala dinner July 8, 2014 Ed Miliband is expecting Labour grandees to splash some serious cash at the party’s election gala dinner tonight, with auction lots from artists Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Grayson Perry featuring a combined reserve price of £140,000. According to the leaked auction guide seen by City A.M., the party is seeking donations to boost [...]
Letters to the Editor – 01/04 – European debate, Globalisation fears, Best of Twitter March 31, 2014 European debate [Re: Why both sides of the debate must up their game on Europe, Friday] Of course politicians are throwing around dodgy statistics. Why? Because both sides of the EU debate lack any comprehensive vision for what Britain’s global position will look like in the future. The Outers want either an expanded Commonwealth, a [...]
Why the housing crisis is clobbering London businesses February 24, 2014 THE HOUSING crisis is the biggest challenge facing London. For the first time ever, it is now Londoners’ top concern. For low and middle income Londoners, home ownership is increasingly out of reach, rents consume an ever increasing percentage of their income, and homelessness is rising. But the crisis is also seriously damaging the competitiveness [...]