ABSTRACT
When Ken Livingstone was elected Mayor of London, he faced considerable hostility from the central government. Although Labour ministers, led by the Minister for London, Nick Raynsford MP, had created the new governance structure, they had campaigned against Livingstone, who had been expelled from the Labour party and stood as an independent candidate. Ministers instead supported the Labour candidate, Frank Dobson, who had been Minister of Health and previously leader of Camden Council. In supporting Dobson, Labour ministers, including the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, had attacked Ken Livingstone, holding him responsible for the abolition of the Greater London Council by Margaret Thatcher in 1986.
