Labour's Ken Livingstone "officially" launched his campaign to be the Mayor of London on a sunny day on the embankment of the Thames yesterday, writes Rachel Donnelly. Of course he launched his campaign in the media a long time ago, but now he said it was time to concentrate on the issues instead of the personalities.
After the Conservatives announced their four shortlisted candidates for the post - Lord Archer, Mr Steven Norris, the former transport minister, Mr Andrew Boff, a former council leader and Mr Bob Blackman, leader of the Tories on Brent Council - Mr Livingstone said the "obsession with personalities is not serving Londoners' interests".
The Brent East MP said Londoners wanted to hear what the candidates had to say about the real issues, such as transport. "All the opinion polls show that the people are supporting all Labour policies, but one area where there is some concern is about transport. The bulk of the Mayor's powers will be to do with transport. Transport is the key problem. If we cannot sort it out you're not going to have a chance," he said.