Boris Johnson doesn’t know his figures
This video from last night’s debate on the London Mayor elections on Newsnight is amusing.
If you want to decide who to vote by policies though, check out VoteMatch. Its a useful tool to tell you who’s policies match the closest to yours.
Also worth noting is the differences in preference depending on race. The Ipsos-Mori poll out today (pdf file), which gives Livingstone a slight lead, shows that Boris is slightly ahead on votes by white Londoners - 44% to 36%. People of ethnic minority backgrounds though overwhelmingly prefer Livingstone (66%) over Johnson (24%). I’m not the least bit surprised by that.
The two recent polls are interesting in that they flat out contradict the sensationalist YouGov ones. They also indicate this race is closer than the narrative certain bloggers/columnists would have us believe.
I wonder how many people saw last nights ‘debate’ (I really can’t believe how crap Paxo was, is that million or so he’s getting money well spent?!) and what effect it’ll have at the next set of polls…
Vote Match - Brilliant - Now I’ll have to review my Green Party membership (2nd from bottom on my list from and look into the BNP more closely!! - top of my list) National Socialists - are they the only socialists left or has the definition of Socialism changed when I was asleep. Its all gon topsy turvy - help.
Thank god I’m not in London - good luck with your election. Let us know who wins.
justforfun
I got Labour and Greens in a dead heat.
But then I’m a LibDem, so I would.
Are bendy-busses really such an issue to you metropoltitans?
Don - how did you do that?
Justforfun
I only diagreed with fuhrer Ken on:
3 - speed limits - I think 20mph on all residential streets is not actually possible.
5 - motorcyclists should use bus lanes, not be banned from them
7 - no opinion on Bendy buses.
8- I don’t think City Airport should be closed, Ken has no view on the matter.
10 - targets for affordable housing should be scrapped because the legislation about building affordable housing has been distorted to make money for builders and the state at the expense of the people who need social housing. People should get better informed on the matter.
12 - I’m not in favour of positive discrimination.
14 - opposite view to Ken on how the police should spend their time and as a student in London.
16 & 17 - tough love I suppose.
19 - God help londoners if Ken can choose the top cop in the country and God help the rest of us!
20 - GLA setting your education - why not just declare UDI now and then we can just quaranteen those in the M25. We’ll starve you out in the end you know.
21 - Why? As I said - I’m against positve discrimination.
25 - why should we all pay for the olympics so the Guardian can advertize more jobs.
Ken and I don’t diagree on much but it seems I agree with the BNP more :-). Oh well - now I suppose I can’t let him join my funster club.
Justforfun
I got the LibDems and the Left List.
BNP and the Christians last.
I’m too embarrassed to post my result…
I see Sunny’s sites have become offshoots of “Stop Boris”!
Are we sure the votematch list of policies is correct?
For example on “expand London’s airports” Ken is down as against while Boris as “neither”, yet I thought all three major candidates had come out against?
It is slightly depressing to have to vote for Boris, but anyone but Ken, please, ABK.
I thought Paxo’s question to Ken about breaking his promise to only stand for one term was quite good.
When Ken said “I changed my mind” his response was obvious but good: so you could change your mind on anything you say tonight.
Yes, that’s Ken, unfortunately.
I got the English Democrats, whoever the hell they are.
Thankfully they turned out not to be racists, but they were opposed to bendy busses.
Accroding to their website they are also in favour of leaving the EU, which goes to show how accurate it is - I AM the EU, having moved to Italy, working in London, and owning a home in Belgium.
But they never asked me about that…
I got Lindsey Germain and Ken. Then I changed two answers and got English Democrats and the BNP.????
Does anyone think Steve Bell is funny anymore? He is currently running a cartoon strip portraying Boris Johnson as Hitler. Cutting-edge satire I suppose.
I got Sian Berry (Green) and Red Ken, in that order. Suits me fine.
Secular Muslim Environmentalists R Us!
boris johnson doesn’t know anything much about the work he would have to do if he got the job!
‘white londoners’ -very vague. why do we even talk about these silly meaningless polls of meaningless groups. the sector i work in is generally referred to by many people as very ‘white’ and i can definitely say boris is not at all popular because even if people don’t like ken all that much they KNOW boris aint got a clue and they have to work with the GLA and aren’t looking forward to working with someone clueless, they’re interested in getting the job done. of course, so it depends who on earth these ‘white londoners’ are.
pretty much most of the third sector isn’t keen on Boris that’s for sure. why don’t we go by jobs or interests rather than the way we look hmm?
Funnily enough I got English Democrats first and BNP last. So appparently you can be a nationalist without being a fascist.
And according to their website the EDs shared a platform with the SNP once!
I would almost support them if it wasn’t for their rabid Europhobia, silly boys.
the only thing about Ken that REALLY gets me is his anti-pigeon stance. He doesn’t seem to think they come under ‘biodiversity’. Ah well, not like i take any notice of the no feeding pigeons.
i did the vote match and i got sian berry and then ken pretty close.
I would have liked a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome over Trafalgar Square. Filled it with a miniature rainforest a lá Eden Project and populate it with Guenon baboons and toucans. Lovely.
hmm - i got ukip (who i detest, being quite pro-europe in a free trade kind of way and certainly not in a screw-the-foreigners kind of way) the green party (who i despise for letting themselves be hoodwinked by the nutters into making stupid pronouncements about the middle east, as if it’s got anything to do with them) and then boris (well, that’s encouraging to know that i’m not just voting for him because he’s not ken) and then ken, which is also encouraging in a way because it shows that if the tories and labour are that close on policy in my terms, i can safely vote on personality. in any case i shall vote for boris first and brian paddick next, because i have a lot of time for him (wasn’t he the chap who thinks prosecuting for cannabis is a waste of time?) plus i seem to remember he’s a senior gay ex-policeman and therefore has to have quite a lot of balls. if i thought he could beat ken in the absence of a decent tory i think i’d even go for him over the tory, as i have no loyalty to them; i’m just about the issues.
b’shalom
bananabrain
Steve Bell stopped being funny a *very* long time ago!
I can’t stand the bloody things and getting rid of them is one Bojo policy I fully agree with.
What makes you say that?
I’ve supported that move from day one, they’re disease ridden vermin that were spoiling our national monuments. Traf Sq is a much nicer looking place without them.
That actually made me laugh out loud. I feel for you mate, if I got that I don’t know what I’d do…!
heh leon if pigeons and bendy buses are key concerns for people then it does paint a very ROSY picture of London.
or the banning of pigeons rather..!! anyway its funny, they eat up everyone’s sandwich bit leftovers whether you feed it ‘em or not. they’d have to employ a lot more rubbish collectors if it weren’t for London’s wildlife.
Bloody humans, i tell you. take over the world and then complain about pigeons!
Rumbold - yep a few changed answers on pretty trivial stuff and I swing from BNP to Ken. It seems the ‘issues’ are meaningless as everyone in crowding in the middle to gain the pro or anti pigeon vote.
Are Left and Right in politics meaningless now ? - we all seem to be to the right of Attila the Hun but to the left of Barack Obama.
justforfun
“we all seem to be to the right of Attila the Hun but to the left of Barack Obama.”
Transport and the environment are always keys concerns.
as are flying rats.
b’shalom
bananabrain
But like, um, I thought the BNP questions were really easy to spot - do you believe mixed marriages should be allowed, for example, was a bit of a giveaway…
Leon:
I am pretty sure that it is impossible to get Boris Johnson as first choice. I tried thrice.
Justforfun:
Heh.
Whadya know - I should vote for Ken! I probably would too, if he hadn’t rejoined the Labour Party. But then, I really don’t want Boris to win. What’s a girl to do?
Actually, though I was a bit taken aback by the question on mixed marriages (they included it recently after launch), even the BNP candidate said he wasn’t against them!!
Whaddya know!
That votematch is ridiculous.
It’s not just what they promise that matters, it’s the bigger picture. So I think our airports should be expanded. That makes me UKIP? Bollocks.
And here’s why progressives should vote 1st Paddick and Johnson as 2nd vote