Your turn again, Livingstone

摘要

London's mayor is an office long on folklore but short on clout. It is often confused with the tiny City of London's ceremonial post of Lord Mayor. That's famous from the ancient tale, popularised in pantomime, of Dick Whittington, a poor boy who comes to London with only a cat and ends up draped in the chain of that high office. Yet since the non-pantomime mayoralty of the whole of London was invented in 1999, it has failed to shake off an air of slight unseriousness. This may help to explain the apparently contradictory attitudes of Londoners towards Ken Livingstone, who looks set to be re-elected on June 10th. A Populus poll in the Times puts him at 42%, over ten points ahead of the Conservatives' Steve Norris, with Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat contender, trailing at 20%. Yet according to a poll for The Economist by YouGov, many Londoners are embarrassed that Mr Livingstone represents their city to the world and think he is poor value for money (see chart). Oddly, however, they not only seem ready to re-elect him they want to give him more powers. Why?