Brian Paddick’s Mayoral campaign received an additional boost today as top American web strategist Jerome Armstrong joined the election team.

Jerome, known in the US as the ‘blogfather’, helped with Howard Dean’s grassroots campaign in 2004 and will be the team’s web strategist until 1st May.

The announcement comes weeks after it was revealed that veteran Democrat, Rick Ridder, who secured Hillary Clinton’s unexpected victory in Arizona in the 2008 primaries, joined Team Paddick as the campaign strategist.

Responding to the news, Brian expressed his delight at the new appointment:

“We are very pleased to have Jerome and his team on board. Jerome is one of the leading web strategists in the world, his arrival will bring the expertise to help us get our positive message of change out to Londoners via new media.

“It is another boost to my campaign and shows we are serious about London and serious about winning.”

Since 2001, the number of London families living in overcrowded homes has risen from 150,000 to 212,000 according to figures obtained by London Liberal Democrats.

Families are being forced to live in cramped conditions, with 20,000 households described as being ’severely overcrowded’.  This information comes as the Mayor admits that there are 83,580 vacant homes in London.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Dee Doocey responded with anger to this latest bad news for Londoners:

“The Mayor has let down over 200,000 families living in cramped and difficult conditions. Very little is being done to provide decent housing for larger families. It is unrealistic to provide so few houses with more than two bedrooms.

“We should be concentrating on bringing empty homes back into use to help combat London’s housing shortage. Last year, only 3% of vacant homes were brought back into use for families to live in.

“Local authorities need to work with the Mayor to build accommodation that reflects the needs of the Capital. London’s housing plan should not just be about hitting targets but about achieving real results for Londoners.”

The latest data on new homes in London shows little being done to turn around the city’s housing problem. Of conventional London homes built in 2006/07, just 11% had three bedrooms and 8% had four bedrooms.

Brian Paddick has proposed a raft of policy ideas to help increase the numbers of houses, especially in the rental sector. Firstly, money will be loaned to Housing Associations so they can increase their housing stock, thus enabling them to offer more homes to the most needy families whom they serve. Other plans include using compulsory purchase orders on empty homes and using government owned brownfield land to build new homes.

For Brian’s full housing manifesto click here.

Liberal Democrats and many others in the London Assembly have reacted with disappointment to the news this morning that Ken Livingston and the Green party are to renew their co-operation bargain within the Assembly.

This bargain has given Ken the necessary votes allowing him to ignore the views and the scrutiny of opposition assembly members. As a result he has been able to get away with above inflation rises in the ‘mayor’s precept’ – the portion of council tax levied by the Mayor and paid by all London residents.

Responding to the news of Ken and the Green’s ‘common green agenda’, Brian Paddick stated:

“Anybody can exploit green issues for political purposes but the independent assessments of solutions to tackling climate change show the Liberal Democrats are the only party to have proposals that work.

“We have the record of achievement and commitment to making London the greenest capital in Europe.”

The Liberal Democrats have consistently received plaudits for their environmental stances. Speaking after the release of the party’s latest environmental proposals, ‘Zero Carbon Britain – Taking a Global Lead’, Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth declared himself “delighted that the Liberal Democrats have come up with a range of progressive policies aimed at making the UK carbon neutral by 2050″. Furthermore, in a recent assessment of the policies of political parties by independent campaign group The Green Alliance, the Liberal Democrats received three ‘green stars’ compared to one for Ken’s Labour party and none for Boris’ Conservatives

In the London campaign, Brian has been meeting green campaigners all over the city as well as fighting hard against the proposed third runway at Heathrow. He is set to announce his full environment manifesto shortly.

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Kicking off his campaign for London Mayor, Brian Paddick, pointed to the election polls showing the Liberal Democrats are winning the majority of votes cast in London by-elections since he was selected to run for Mayor in November 2007.

On these by-election votes the Liberal Democrats stand a full 8% ahead of their nearest rivals with 39% of the vote, followed by the Conservatives with 31% and Labour with just 25%

So far, by-elections have taken place in Boroughs including Southwark, Haringey, Harrow, Leyton, Camden, Sutton and Brent.

“The only polls that matter are the ones on polling days”, said Brian, “and these show that the Liberal Democrats are winning across London. The London election is a two-horse race – between me and Boris. The way the voting system works means I am the only candidate who can beat Ken Livingstone.

“I have the capability and leadership to deliver real change. I have 30 years experience improving people’s lives and fostering trust amongst our communities. Londoners want a clean pair of hands they can trust running their city. Londoners want Brian Paddick on May 1st.”

The voting system Brian refers to is the Supplementary Vote system by which London Mayors are elected. This means that people select both their first and second preference for Mayor, and if no candidate receives 50% of first preference votes then the first and second of the top two candidates are added together to decide the winner.

It is the nature of Boris’ support which makes him unlikely to be able to defeat Ken. Opinions on both Boris and the Conservative party tend to be more polarised so unless people feel strongly enough to put Boris as their first preference they are unlikely to put him as their second preference. The Conservative’s poor record in London Mayoral election second preference votes (13.2% in 2000 and 11.6% in 2004) contrasts starkly with the Liberal Democrats record in second preference votes (28.5% in 2000 and 24.3% in 2004). With Brian’s competence and record of effecting change in the police, he is set to continue the Liberal Democrats strong record in offering both a broad appeal to all Londoners and the main challenge to Ken.

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has lauded Brian Paddick as the candidate to stand up against the   establishment at City Hall.

Speaking to the Liberal Democrat London Spring Conference at Hamilton House yesterday evening,   Nick  emphasised the uniqueness of the party and of Brian Paddick’s position in the race for the Mayoralty:

“We are different. We stand up for the people, the families and the communities that get trampled by the system. We stand for the liberal values that hold our country – and our capital – together.   That’s why we are never afraid to stand up against vested interests and do what’s right.

“That means standing up against the establishment at City Hall. Ken Livingstone has turned London politics into a closed shop where pals get elevated and rebels get shipped out. It’s got to stop.

“It’s time for a new face at City Hall and if some of the stories that emerge from that building are true then it had better be a policeman.”

Nick went on to reach out to Londoners and emphasised the importance of the choice they face on May 1st:

“Each London family gives about £300 to the mayor every year.

“Over four years, that’s twelve hundred pounds or so.

“So every one of you – and every family in London – has one thousand two hundred pounds staked on the May elections.

“You worked hard earning every one of those pounds so ask yourself this question: who would you trust to spend it wisely? The joker? The failure? Or the policeman?

“If you want a mayor who’ll stand up for ordinary Londoners, a mayor who’ll fight crime,  invest in public transport and who’s serious about the challenge and commitment of running one of the world’s greatest cities, then Brian Paddick is the candidate for you. Brian Paddick is the best candidate – and I’m proud that he is our candidate.

“After eight years of Ken, London still has real problems. Look at the tube. High ticket prices; but still the daily drama of delays, cancellations, deviations and closures. Millions of Londoners who just want to get to work: who failed them? Ken.

“Then there’s housing. Young couples unable to settle down together. Families shunted through temporary flat after temporary flat. Cold pensioners with rising fuel bills. Repossessions. Overcrowding. Millions of Londoners who just want a decent place to live: who failed them? Ken.

“And there’s crime. Parents afraid for their children. Schools threatened by gang culture, knives and guns. Women terrified of getting home at night. Teenagers addicted to drink and drugs who’ve never known anything else. Millions of Londoners who just want to feel safe: who failed them? Ken.

“If Ken knew how to solve these problems, he would have – after all, he’s had eight years to do it. But he hasn’t, he can’t, and he won’t. Ken is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

“As for Boris? He’s just part of a bad joke. Run London? I wouldn’t trust him to run a bath.

“No matter what the challenge, he only has one policy solution: scrap bendy buses. According to Boris, abolishing bendy buses would solve every problem from knife crime to back pain and the Conservatives want to put this man in charge of a budget of nine billion pounds. I know David Cameron was involved in Black Wednesday, but this is taking financial mismanagement to new heights.”

It emerged over the weekend that Ken Livingstone received an undeclared donation from a London property developer whose controversial planning application he had heavily supported.

Gerald Ronson, the tycoon jailed for his role in the Guinness share-dealing scandal, donated the money in 2004 and came two years after gaining permission for his Heron Tower development; a 202 metre skyscraper opposed by English Heritage for its interference with the capital’s historic skyline.

The money, £4,990, was processed through a loophole in the regulations which means that although the details of any donation above £1,000 to the Mayor’s re-election campaign has to be published, a donation made to the Labour party need only be declared if it is above £5,000.

Speaking about the revelations, Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick said:

“First it was the Labour Mayor’s advisor, now it’s Ken Livingstone who’s caught up in a funding row. Livingstone’s ‘cash for skyscrapers’ scandal is testimony to a mayor who’s been in power for too long and who looks after his own interests above those of Londoners.

This ’scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ mentality where money gives access to benefits in kind such as planning applications, has become synonymous with Labour sleaze. Try though he might to distance himself from his party, Mayor Livingstone has shown his true colours here.

I have pledged to declare all donations above £1,000 to the electoral commission, and my team are currently working with Party officials on our submission. Londoners want change. Londoners want a mayor they can trust. There’s never been a better time to put a policeman into city hall.”

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Liberal Democrat Mayoral Candidate Brian Paddick is taking part in an exclusive interview on Twitter, the popular text messaging service – the first time this has been done by a UK politician.

Brian Paddick will be offering an exclusive interview to all of his ‘followers’ on Twitter. Users who have signed up to follow Brian Paddick on Twitter will be able to text a question and answers will then be sent to the questioners and posted on his official website.

Commenting, Brian Paddick said:

“I’m really excited by the possibilities that Twitter offers to help me reach out to people who normally aren’t that interested in politics or elections.

“My Twitter interview will let people put questions directly to me about any topic related to the election.”

Notes to Editors:

1) Brian is the only Mayoral candidate to have been using Twitter to communicate with Londoners. People are able to sign up to get text message updates for free from him by texting follow brianpaddick to 07624 801 423.

2) Twitter is a free text-message based social networking and blogging service and is one of the fastest growing cutting edge internet tools. Twitter has been described as:

“Incredibly useful” Wired Magazine
“It’s one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.” New York Times
“Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app.” Time Magazine

3) Anyone signed up to follow Brian Paddick on Twitter can text a question between Thursday 3rd and Tuesday 8th April. Brian Paddick will then send the answers to the questioners via Twitter and post them on his website, www.brianpaddick.org

4) To ask a question, followers of Brian Paddick can text d brianpaddick followed by the question, e.g. d brianpaddick how would you cut crime? to 07624 801 423.

Friday, March 28th, 2008

The list of London’s teen murder victims gained a further two names last night as a result of separate attacks in the capital. Amro Elbadawi, 14, was attacked in the Queens Park area, Police have arrested a 16 year old in connection with the incident. Meanwhile, 17 year-old Devoe Roach was stabbed near his home in Stoke Newington.

After last night’s events, the total of teenagers murdered in the city this year now stands at 11.

Responding to these tragic losses of life, Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick declared:

“it is time to call a halt to this senseless slaying of our young people on the streets of London.

“Livingstone has said there is nothing he or any commissioner of the police can do about it. If that’s the case it’s time for Livingstone to make way for a man that can.

“Johnson is clueless, Livingstone is hopeless, but I will deliver. I’m not prepared to give up on London’s young people.”