Ken Livingstone

Kenneth Robert Livingstone
Livingstone at the World Economic Forum in January 2008
1st Mayor of London
In office 4 May 2000 – 4 May 2008
Deputy	Nicky Gavron 2004–2008 Jenny Jones 2003–2004 Nicky Gavron 2000–2003
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Boris Johnson[1]
Leader of the Greater London Council
In office 1984–1986
Preceded by	John Wilson
Succeeded by	Office abolished
In office 1981–1984
Preceded by	Horace Cutler
Succeeded by	John Wilson
Member of Parliament for Brent East
In office 11 June 1987 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Reg Freeson
Succeeded by	Paul Daisley
Majority	23,748 (67.33%)
Personal details
Born	(1945-06-17) 17 June 1945 (age 79) Lambeth, London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour (1968-2016, suspended)
Spouse(s)	Christine Chapman (m. 1973-1982, divorced) Emma Beal (m. 2009-present)
Children	2 sons, 3 daughters

Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is a British socialist^[2] politician. He has twice held the leading political role in London local government. First, he was leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986. Secondly, he was the first Mayor of London, from its creation in 2000 until 2008. He was Labour Party Member of Parliament for Brent East between 1987 and 2001.

He was elected Mayor of London as an Independent candidate after the Labour Party decided not to nominate him as their candidate in the first mayoral elections. In January 2004, he was re-admitted to the Labour Party. As the official Labour Party candidate for Mayor in the June 2004 elections, he won with a total of 828,380 first- and second-preference votes. On 1 May 2008 Livingstone was defeated in his second re-election bid by Conservative candidate Boris Johnson.

1. ↑ "Johnson wins London mayoral race". BBC News. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
2. ↑ "Comment is free", The Guardian, 25 January 2005