Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstoneis an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Councilfrom 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office in 2000 until 2008. He also served as the Member of Parliamentfor Brent East from 1987 to 2001. A suspended member of the Labour Party, he was on the party's hard left, ideologically identifying as a democratic socialist...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth17 June 1945
immense jewish jews
I could not cherish London and not value Jewish London. The contribution of Jews to London is immense - politically, economically, culturally, intellectually, philanthropically, artistically.
anyone life money politician pressure understand
I can't understand why anyone would want to live the life of a politician if you can't say pretty much what you think. You are not in it for the money: there's unremitting pressure on your life, you give up so much of your privacy. It can only be because of the things you want to do and the things you want to say.
came carry change lying politics wished
I came into politics because I wished to change things. You can't do that by lying to people; you have to educate, and persuade, and carry them with you - and it's often a long haul.
I'm an emotional person; I do occasionally shed a tear.
I would like all newspapers to become workers' co-operatives.
Well, I mean, I'm very much a pragmatic person.
The whole culture of my background was deeply Conservative.
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Short of being prime minister there isn't a better job in British politics than running London.
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The best way to demonstrate the values of a western democracy is you put Osama bin Laden on trial; you challenge what he says.
life
There isn't much about my life that's been particularly conventional.
argue issues
When I'm sifting the compost seed or pruning, I argue over issues in my head; I talk to myself.
believe people
Well, I get on with people who believe in something.
believed
Thatcher was prepared to destroy the world rather than give in on something she believed in.