2000 London mayoral election

The 2000 London mayoral election was held on 4 May 2000 to elect the Mayor of London. It was the first election to the office established that year; the idea of a mayor of a Greater London Authority (GLA) had been included in Labour's 1997 election manifesto, and after their election a referendum in London was scheduled for May 1998, in which there was a 72% yes vote with a 34% turnout.<ref name="Hosken 2008"/><ref name="Carvel 1999"/><ref name="Edwards & Isaby 2008"/>

Electoral system

The election used a supplementary vote system, in which voters express a first and a second preference for candidates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first preference vote, that candidate wins
• If no candidate receives more than 50% of first preference votes, the top two candidates proceed to a second round and all other candidates are eliminated
• The first preference votes for the remaining two candidates stand in the final count
• Voters' ballots whose first and second preference candidates have both been eliminated are discarded
• Voters whose first preference candidates have been eliminated and whose second preference candidate is one of the top two have their second preference votes added to that candidate's count

This means that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters who expressed a preference among the top two.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Candidates

• Geoffrey Ben-Nathan stood as a PRO-MaSS (Pro-motorist and Small Shop) candidate, campaigning on a platform of stopping the use of motorists as "wallets on wheels".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Geoffrey Clements ran for the Natural Law Party, of which he was the leader. A doctor of physics from the University of Sussex, he also trained as a teacher in the techniques of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Frank Dobson (born 15 March 1940), the Labour Party candidate, was the MP for Holborn and St. Pancras and Secretary of State for Health.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Ram Gidoomal, a businessman and author originally from British East Africa ran for the Christian Peoples Alliance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Damian Hockney was a leading member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has since been a member of Veritas and the leader of One London.
• Darren Johnson (born 1966) was a leading member of the Green Party of England and Wales who was elected to the London Assembly in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Susan Kramer (born 22 July 1950) was the candidate for the Liberal Democrats. She was later elected MP for Richmond Park and is now a life peer.
• Ken Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) had been leader of the Greater London Council and MP for Brent East, both for the Labour Party.
• Michael Newland was the candidate for the British National Party, at the time serving as the party's national treasurer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Previously associated with the National Front he subsequently joined the Freedom Party.
• Steven Norris (born 24 May 1945) had served the Conservative Party as MP for Oxford East and Epping Forest.
• Ashwinkumar Tanna, who had been a candidate for UKIP in the 2000 Tottenham by-election, ran on an independent ticket with a range of policies including opposing privatisation of London Underground, local involvement in policing and the establishment of a citywide business forum.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Candidate selection

Labour

Template:Main With the first mayoral election scheduled for May 2000, Ken Livingstone stated his intention to stand as a potential Labour candidate for the position in March 1998.<ref name="Hosken 2008">Template:Cite book</ref> Tony Blair did not want Livingstone as London Mayor, claiming the latter was one of those who "almost knocked [the party] over the edge of the cliff into extinction" during the 1980s.<ref name="Hosken 2008"/><ref name="Carvel 1999">Template:Cite book</ref> He and the Labour spin doctors organised a campaign against Livingstone to ensure that he was not selected, with Alastair Campbell and Sally Morgan unsuccessfully attempting to get Oona King to denounce Livingstone.<ref name="Hosken 2008"/> They failed to convince Mo Mowlam to stand for the mayorship, and instead encouraged the reluctant Frank Dobson to stand.<ref name="Hosken 2008"/> Recognising that a 'one member, one vote' election within the London Labour Party would probably see Livingstone selected over Dobson, Blair ensured that a third of the votes would come from the rank-and-file members, a third from the trades unions, and a third from Labour MPs and MEPs, the latter two of which he could pressure into voting for his own preferred candidate, something that Dobson was deeply uncomfortable with.<ref name="Hosken 2008"/><ref name="Edwards & Isaby 2008">Template:Cite book</ref>

Information on the Blairite campaign against Livingstone became public, costing Dobson much support; nevertheless, while Livingstone won amongst party members (60% to Dobson's 40%) and among affiliated unions (72% to Dobson's 28%, a more than 2:1 vote), Dobson's landslide victory (173:27 in ratio) amongst MPs, MEPS and GLA candidates saw him win narrowly overall: forming a simple electoral college outcome of 51.5% to 48.5%.<ref name="Hosken 2008"/><ref name="Edwards & Isaby 2008"/><ref name="University of Essex">Template:Cite web</ref> Livingstone proclaimed Dobson to be "a tainted candidate" and stated his intention to run for the Mayoralty as an independent candidate. Aware that this would result in his expulsion from Labour, he publicly stated that "I have been forced to choose between the party I love and upholding the democratic rights of Londoners."<ref name="Hosken 2008"/>

First round

Candidate		Elected members (33.3%)	Individual members (33.3%)	Affiliated supporters (33.3%)	Total
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Frank Dobson	86.5%	35.3%	26.9%	Template:Percentage bar	49.6%
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Ken Livingstone	12.2%	54.9%	71.0%	Template:Percentage bar	46.0%
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Glenda Jackson	1.4%	9.8%	2.1%	Template:Percentage bar	4.4%

Second round

Candidate		Elected members (33.3%)	Individual members (33.3%)	Affiliated supporters (33.3%)	Total
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Frank Dobson Template:Y	86.5%	40.1%	28.0%	Template:Percentage bar	51.5%
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Ken Livingstone	13.5%	59.9%	72.0%	Template:Percentage bar	48.5%

Conservatives

Steve Norris had lost the original selection ballot for Conservative candidate to Jeffrey Archer, but Archer stood down as a candidate when a newspaper printed a story accusing him of committing perjury during a 1987 libel trial <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>(he was later convicted and imprisoned).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

First round<ref name="University of Essex"/>

Candidate		Votes		%
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Jeffrey Archer Template:Y	15,716	Template:Percentage bar	71.2%
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Steven Norris	6,350	Template:Percentage bar	28.8%

Re-run<ref name="University of Essex"/>

Candidate		Votes		%
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Steven Norris Template:Y	12,903	Template:Percentage bar	73.3%
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Andrew Boff	4,712	Template:Percentage bar	26.7%

Results

• Turnout: 1,752,303 (34.43%)
• As the ballot papers are counted electronically, totals for all second preferences are available, even though some did not contribute to the final result.

External links

• Results by GLA constituency