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Ken Livingstone has twice held the chief executive office in London, firstly as leader of the Greater London Council from 1981. The council was abolished in 1986 by the government of Margaret Thatcher and he subsequently served as Labour MP for Brent East from 1987 - 2001. Secondly he became the first directly elected Mayor of London, when London-wide government was restored in 2000.
With strong ideas about how the capital should be run, Ken has never been afraid of controversy. He had the courage and vision to introduce the congestion charge and a transformation of the city’s aging transport infrastructure to free up London's traffic. The driving force behind the capital’s successful 2012 Olympic bid, his leadership vision was for strong and diverse growth for London and success in which all Londoners could share.
Fundamental improvements in environmental management are also central to his vision, and in 2007 he produced a climate change strategy which showed how London could reduce its carbon emissions by 60% in 20 years and by 80 – 90% by 2050.
Ken was re-elected for a second term in 2004 but defeated in his second re-election bid by Boris Johnson in May 2008. He has written two books, If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It (1987) and Livingstone’s Labour (1989). He is currently working on his autobiography, for publication in 2009.
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