The vote for the mayor of London will take place on 3 May and it is time to prepare your vote if you haven’t done so already. Those who have registered for postal votes will receive their ballot papers around 20 April.
Here is a quick summary of the main candidates and how they might affect you:
Boris Johnson, Conservatives
-He is the current mayor of London. During his term, Boris has introduced the bike hire scheme and a council tax freeze every year. Boris has increased investment in transport infrastructure although Tube prices have risen year on year under his management.
-Election pledges include cutting waste at City Hall to free up £3.5 billion for services.
-Putting £445 back in your pocket by freezing the Mayoral share of council tax.
-Creating 200,000 jobs over the next four years.
-1,000 more police on the beat.
-Investing £221 million to transform local high streets and support small businesses
-Ensuring an Olympic legacy with 11,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs.
-Reducing tube delays 30% by 2015.
Ken Livingstone, Labour
-Acted as London Mayor prior to Boris Johnson. Was famous for cutting tube fares and introducing bendy buses. Ken made a bold move to introduce the congestion charge to reduce city center traffic and to effectively tax the motorists for maintaining the roads. Whilst Ken must take credit for making hard decisions this is the most likely reason for him losing the following election.
-Key pledges include cutting fares by 7% this year saving the average London fare payer £1,000 over 4 years. He is also looking to freeze fares for 2013.
-Crackdown on crime by reversing police cuts.
-Help reduce rents by improving standards with a London non-profit lettings agency
-Tackle heating bills through insulation and an energy coop.
-Introduce a London EMA of up to £30 per week to help young people stay in education.
Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrats
-Respected candidate. Could be the first London Mayor who will also be responsible for the Metropolitan police.
-Key pledges include building more affordable housing in London and tackling unaffordable rent and rogue landlords.
-Help young Londoners into jobs and training schemes.
-Improve fares by introducing a one hour bus ticket so Londoners are not charges more than one if they change buses on a journey. Will also introduce discounts for “early bird” travellers.
-Will improve the justice system by setting up a London wide community payback scheme that gives local people a say over what criminals should be doing in their communities.
Jenny Jones, Green Party
-The Green Party is the only party to say “No” to the High Speed 2 rail scheme because there are far cheaper, greener, quicker-to-build ways to improve the rail network.
-Main pledge is to cut fares and reduce traffic. Jenny will ensure public transport is cheaper than driving. Suburban rail services to be more regular and reduce traffic congestion to clean up London’s polluted air.
Source: Londonelects.org.uk