Londoners Struggle To Find Their Own Giuliani

Unlike the US process, the final choice for the party nomination was not made though an open primary. For Labour the process was complex with a shortlist of candidates selected through a panel at the national headquarters. The final selection was then made up by an electoral college, with one third of votes divided equally between party members, London MPs, and affiliated groups. Mr. Livingstone made it onto the short list, but complained that the selection process was loaded against him. He believed that the electoral college gave too much influence to small affiliated organizations that do not ballot their members – the organizations that were less likely to support Mr. Livingstone.

If the scales, as Livingstone alleged, were weighted against him, it did not produce an overwhelming result. Frank Dobson won the nomination with 51.5% of the electoral college vote to Ken Livingstone’s 48.5%. Livingstone scored more strongly with Party members and affiliated organizations whereas Dobson’s base was the Members of Parliament. Like the Conservatives, Labour’s final choice has not been the populist or the maverick.

The Conservatives also used an electoral college system to determine their final shortlist of two. The final result was determined by a vote by London party members. But still, like Labour, the candidates were subjected to more a formal vetting by party leaders than would be expected in the US. In a US, primary endorsements and donations from key figures may be pivotal to one’s success, but it is not a requirement to gain approval from a specific panel before you go before the party members.

The controversy and infighting that the race for Mayor has produced on both sides does not mean that a directly elected Mayor is a bad thing – far from it. It is just that it is something new to Britain to have an elected office that attracts national attention centering on the individual candidate rather than the party. The candidates are not local novices, but established heavyweights, and with this comes all the ego and baggage. In a country where power is so tightly concentrated in one central body, it is natural that the parties should be nervous about letting some of their biggest personalities break loose for the entire nation to see.

But in creating a system of government with different tiers, a natural consequence will be tensions and power struggles. Such a consequence cannot be avoided by trying to hand pick a most favored candidate. In fact to do so undermines the goal of local autonomy that the office of Mayor attempts to create. Instead the candidate-oriented position of Mayor should help develop a more diverse, less partisan approach to politics, at least at some level. While the British love a scandal involving those in high office, let’s hope that once the gossip and controversy die down, they come to respect and value the nature of this new office.