Livingstone, Ken (1945-…), a British politician, became the first elected mayor of Greater London in 2000. As mayor, he worked to reduce traffic on London’s crowded streets and to keep the city clean. He was reelected in 2004 but failed to win reelection in 2008.
Kenneth Robert Livingstone was born on June 17, 1945, in Lambeth, one of the 32 boroughs of Greater London. He began his career in politics in 1971, when he was elected to the Lambeth borough council. He served on the council until 1978. In 1973, Livingstone joined the Greater London Council (GLC), a governing body that had authority over all the boroughs of Greater London. Livingstone moved to Camden in 1978 and served on the Camden borough council from 1978 to 1982. From 1974 to 1986, he served on the regional executive committee of the Greater London Labour Party.
Livingstone became the leader of the GLC in 1981. His liberal policies earned him the nickname “Red Ken,” because the color red was historically associated with Communism. He frequently clashed with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative national government. In 1986, Thatcher abolished the GLC.
Livingstone was elected to the British Parliament in 1987 and won reelection in 1992 and 1997. He served on the national executive committee of the Labour Party from 1987 to 1989 and from 1997 to 2000.
Prior to the London mayoral election in 2000, Livingstone campaigned for the Labour Party nomination for mayor. However, Labour’s leaders strongly opposed his candidacy and chose Frank Dobson as their candidate instead. Livingstone decided to run against Dobson as an independent candidate and was expelled from the Labour Party. The people of London chose Livingstone by a wide margin over Dobson and several other candidates. Livingstone was readmitted to the Labour Party in 2004. In 2016, he was again expelled from the party, this time for making remarks considered anti-Semitic (prejudiced against Jews).
