Mandy for Mayor!

[Sheilbh]

Oh lord be true:

Peter Mandelson may contest next London mayor election
    * Hélène Mulholland
    * guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 December 2009 22.24 GMT



Lord Mandelson recently sketched out possible retirement plans to live on a farm, but Labour insiders have become gripped by rumours that the business secretary may throw his hat in the ring for the 2012 mayoral election in London if the Tories win the general election.

Ken Livingstone has also fanned the flames by revealing that "a senior Blairite" warned him three weeks ago that Mandelson could turn out to be his main challenger for the Labour ticket if the government loses next year's general election.

Livingstone, beaten in 2008 by Boris Johnson, told the Guardian that a former minister gave him a "friendly tip-off" about a formidable possible Labour challenger.

The former mayor, who routinely attends City Hall to observe his Tory successor Johnson, is "absolutely determined" to wrest back the mayoralty in 2012 as the Labour candidate.

An aide to Mandelson insisted there was "nothing" to the rumours that the business secretary harbours mayoral ambitions.

However, Livingstone, who declined to name his source, said: "He [the former minister] gave me a warning that I should take the Mandelson thing seriously ... It was not an attempt to turn me off, it was just a warning that he would go for it."

The Tories could face an uphill challenge at the 2012 mayoral election if a Cameron government comes to power amid the spectre of radical public spending cuts, not least because Johnson, who remains a popular mayoral figure, is widely tipped to be plotting his return to Westminster if the Tories form a government next year.

Such a move by Mandelson to seek the Labour nomination to stand for mayor would allow him to try and follow in his grandfather's footsteps, Herbert Morrison, who ran the London county council in the 1930s.

It would also seem more aligned with his appetite for politics than his recent declaration that he would leave London "like a shot" if he could live in the countryside and grow his own food.

Mandelson caused some surprise when he told the Spectator last week that in 15 or 20 years time he would like to live on a farm "close to the land. If I could live in the countryside rather than London now, I'd do it like a shot."

The secretary of state for business, innovation and skills has displayed his capacity for reinvention with a political comeback to national politics last year after almost four years as trade commissioner in Europe, following an invitation from his former foe Gordon Brown, who went on to bestow him with the title of first secretary of state last summer, as well as an expanded government department.

To his delight, his return to government has brought with him an increased popularity within the party, prompting him to tell delegates at Labour's annual conference: "If I can come back, we can come back," in a rallying cry.Tony Travers, a London government expert, believes Mandelson's political celebrity profile would make him a serious contender for the Labour mayoral nomination against Livingstone if the party is ejected from office next year.

Many within the Labour party believe it is time for the former London leader to step aside in favour of new faces.

A number of London Labour MPs are expected to stand for nomination if they lose their seat at the next election, but none within the party have the profile needed to beat Livingstone's bid for the candidature other than Mandelson, according to Travers.

He "ticks all the boxes," says Travers. "His political skills would be particularly good for London. He has a kind of glamour that being mayor of London needs. He is able to run a machine, and has a family link.

"It has so much going for it. It would also be a left-right fight between him and Livingstone and reflect a real split in the labour party. If Mandelson wanted to become mayor of London it would further reinforce the extraordinary importance of this job and bring dignity and status to the role."

Livingstone is wasting no time preparing the ground for his candidacy. In January, he is due to stage his second "progressive London" conference which is widely seen as a platform to mobilise his campaign.

The former mayor, who is currently working on his autobiography, intends to set up working groups to draw up a policy blueprint ahead of Labour's search for their mayoral candidate, which Livingstone expects to start in early 2011.

"My assumption is that by this time next year we should be on campaign," he said. "Until you see the outcome of the general election there is no point in having a plan. If you have a labour government you still struggle to beat Boris in a fourth Labour term."

[Neil]

He'd lose.

[MadImmortalMan]

Madonna could run. She'd win.

[Josquius]

Why is this good?
Isn't it a bit bad to waste him on London?

[Martinus]

OMG yes. We need a gay man leading London for the trifecta, after Paris and Berlin.