Written 8/12/11
Before departing for Australia I bought Ken Livingstone's memoirs from Amazon, within days I was asked if I'd submit a review. It's a large volume weighing in at 680 pages, the perfect book for holiday reading as long as you've got surplus weight in your luggage.
From the outset it's worth mentioning that I have a certain affinity to Ken. We were part of the same movements for many years, we both grew up in South London, just a few years and miles apart. We both joined the Labour party and through that experienced local government. As a result the chapters of the book that deal with the GLC years bring back many memories.
As Ken points out he comes from a time when class defined politics and ideas and policies were what mattered rather than style and how you present yourself in often shallow "soundbites" on TV. It is convenient therefore to divide the book into two halves, the years leading up to his election as MP for Brent East and then the rise of New Labour and Ken's years as London Mayor.
In the second part he explains astutely that the Labour leadership group in 1997 including Blair lacked the experience of running anything. While traditionally aspiring politicians cut their teeth in local government, here was a group who had bypassed that route. As a result many ministers walked into government departments without the necessary skills and grounding.
The latter chapters detail his role in the campaign to bring the Olympic games to London, the impact of 7/7 and finally his defeat by Boris Johnson. It is impossible to read these sections and indeed the early chapters on the GLC without mentioning the sustained press attacks that have riddled his political career. The fact that he has been regularly elected says much for the fact that many Londoners see a different person to the editors of the Mail, Standard and Sun.
"You can't say that" as a memoir is not the perfect balanced account of a life in politics; it is an opportunity to tell it from his point of view. Refreshingly he has always tried to separate his political life from his personal life which he has been at pains to keep away from the media spotlight. However in his memoirs he deals with these matters in a refreshingly honest way.
Although Ken rejoined Labour in time to be elected for the second time as mayor as the Labour candidate, he does not analysis to any extent how someone with his views can co-exist with the modern Labour Party that seems light years from the movement to which he was a central part in the 1980s.
Nevertheless to anyone who is interested in modern Labour history, London or local government this is near essential reading. Its publication is timely ahead of Ken's campaign to regain the mayoralty of London in 2012.
Before departing for Australia I bought Ken Livingstone's memoirs from Amazon, within days I was asked if I'd submit a review. It's a large volume weighing in at 680 pages, the perfect book for holiday reading as long as you've got surplus weight in your luggage.
From the outset it's worth mentioning that I have a certain affinity to Ken. We were part of the same movements for many years, we both grew up in South London, just a few years and miles apart. We both joined the Labour party and through that experienced local government. As a result the chapters of the book that deal with the GLC years bring back many memories.
As Ken points out he comes from a time when class defined politics and ideas and policies were what mattered rather than style and how you present yourself in often shallow "soundbites" on TV. It is convenient therefore to divide the book into two halves, the years leading up to his election as MP for Brent East and then the rise of New Labour and Ken's years as London Mayor.
In the second part he explains astutely that the Labour leadership group in 1997 including Blair lacked the experience of running anything. While traditionally aspiring politicians cut their teeth in local government, here was a group who had bypassed that route. As a result many ministers walked into government departments without the necessary skills and grounding.
The latter chapters detail his role in the campaign to bring the Olympic games to London, the impact of 7/7 and finally his defeat by Boris Johnson. It is impossible to read these sections and indeed the early chapters on the GLC without mentioning the sustained press attacks that have riddled his political career. The fact that he has been regularly elected says much for the fact that many Londoners see a different person to the editors of the Mail, Standard and Sun.
"You can't say that" as a memoir is not the perfect balanced account of a life in politics; it is an opportunity to tell it from his point of view. Refreshingly he has always tried to separate his political life from his personal life which he has been at pains to keep away from the media spotlight. However in his memoirs he deals with these matters in a refreshingly honest way.
Although Ken rejoined Labour in time to be elected for the second time as mayor as the Labour candidate, he does not analysis to any extent how someone with his views can co-exist with the modern Labour Party that seems light years from the movement to which he was a central part in the 1980s.
Nevertheless to anyone who is interested in modern Labour history, London or local government this is near essential reading. Its publication is timely ahead of Ken's campaign to regain the mayoralty of London in 2012.
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