Hero and Zero

Tim Black is unimpressed by the blubbing challenger to Boris, but finds Doug Stanhope’s abrasive free spirit refreshing.

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Ken vs Boris? What a letdown for London

Anyone who doubts that there has been an historic homogenisation of politics in recent years, a stripping-out of difference and debate from the political realm, should take a long look at the London mayoral election. Here is a contest which really ought to be exciting, or at least interesting. It is, after all, a battle to run one of the most dynamic cities in the world. And the two main contenders – floppy-haired Boris Johnson and stiff Ken Livingstone – have a certain amount of charisma and cojones in comparison with your average cardboard cutout of a politician.

And yet despite all that, despite the spectacular stage and the promising participants, the mayoral contest is utterly bereft of thrills. It is a clash-free, ideas-lacking, principle-lite political void, the sort of electoral contest you would normally expect to see in a small provincial town rather than London. What’s going on?

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