page_title: Ken Livingstone
section_title: First mayoral term: 2000–04
hierarchical_section_title: Ken Livingstone / Mayor of London / First mayoral term: 2000–04
caption_attribution_description: English: Red Ken car sticker from Easy Rent a Car
context_page_description: Kenneth Robert Livingstone is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office in 2000 until 2008. He also served as the Member of Parliament for Brent East from 1987 to 2001. A former member of the Labour Party, he was on the party's hard left, ideologically identifying as a democratic socialist.
  Born in Lambeth, South London, to a working-class family, Livingstone joined Labour in 1968 and was elected to represent Norwood at the GLC in 1973, Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1977, and Paddington in 1981. That year, Labour representatives on the GLC elected him as the council's leader. Attempting to reduce London Underground fares, his plans were challenged in court and declared unlawful; more successful were his schemes to benefit women and several minority groups, despite stiff opposition. The mainstream media gave him the moniker "Red Ken" in reference to his socialist beliefs and heavily criticised him for supporting controversial issues like republicanism, LGBT rights, and a United Ireland.
context_section_description: Livingstone now had "the largest and most direct mandate of any politician in British history", receiving an annual salary of £87,000. It was the Mayor's job to oversee a number of subordinate bodies, including the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London (TfL), the London Development Agency, and the London Fire Brigade, and in doing so he was granted a number of executive powers. He would be scrutinised by the elected London Assembly, whose first chairman was Trevor Phillips, a Labour politician who had a reciprocated dislike of Livingstone. Livingstone was permitted twelve principal advisers, many of whom were members of Socialist Action or people whom he had worked with on the GLC. Ross and Fletcher became two of his closest confidants, with Livingstone commenting that "They aren't just my closest political advisers... they're also mostly my best friends." In 2002, he promoted six of his senior aides, resulting in allegations of cronyism from Assembly members. The Mayoral office was initially based in temporary headquarters at Romney House in Marsham Street, Westminster, while a purpose-built building was constructed in Southwark; termed City Hall, it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2002, with Livingstone commenting that it resembled a "glass testicle."
  Much of Livingstone's first two years were devoted to setting up the Mayoral system and administration. He also devoted much time to battling New Labour's plans to upgrade the London Underground system through a public–private partnership (PPP) program, believing it to be too expensive and tantamount to the privatisation of a state-owned service. He furthermore had strong concerns about safety; PPP would divide different parts of the Underground among various companies, something that he argued threatened a holistic safety and maintenance program. These concerns were shared by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) trade union, who went on strike over the issue, being joined on the picket line by Livingstone. Appointing Bob Kiley as transport commissioner, the duo argued that the upgrade should be carried out in state hands through a public bond issue, as had been done in the case of the New York City Subway. They launched court cases against the government over PPP in 2001–02, but were ultimately unsuccessful, and the project went ahead, with the Underground being privatised in January 2003.
  Although he had initially stated that he would not do so, Livingstone's administration sought to phase out use of the Routemaster buses, the design for which dated to the 1950s. Although iconic, they were deemed hazardous and responsible for a high number of deaths and serious injuries as passengers climbed onto them, also being non-wheelchair accessible and thus not meeting the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The process was gradual, with the last Routemaster being decommissioned in December 2005. The Routemasters were replaced by a new fleet of 103 articulated buses, known colloquially as "bendy buses", which were launched in June 2002. While the Routemasters fitted 80 people on at one time, the articulated buses fitted up to 140 passengers, however they were deemed dangerous for cyclists. Attempting to reduce London's environmental impact, Livingstone created the  London Hydrogen Partnership and the London Energy Partnership in his first term as Mayor of London. The Mayor's Energy Strategy, "green light to clean power," committed London to reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide by 20%, relative to the 1990 level, by 2010.
  Livingstone sought to remove the pigeons from Trafalgar Square; he tried to evict seed sellers and introduced hawks to scare the pigeons off. He pedestrianised the north side of the Square, transforming it into a public space with a cafe, public toilets, and a lift for the disabled. He introduced an annual Saint Patrick's Day festival to celebrate the contributions of the Irish to London, and revived London's free anti
caption: A car rental company's "Red Ken's Tax Paid" car sticker: a negative comment on the congestion charge
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