Outer London Labour MP hints at possible mayoral bid
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Version 0 of 1. Complaints that Outer London is neglected by City Hall have been aimed at both its mayoral occupants so far. Ken Livingstone was accused of having a Zone 1 bias, not least by Boris Johnson in his successful 2008 campaign to unseat him. But Johnson too has had some stick from the suburbs of late thanks to his recent big hike in the price of off-peak travelcards covering Zone 6 (which happens to include a place called Uxbridge). To upset Greater London’s furthest reaches is courting trouble. To please them is essential for anyone seeking to become London’s next mayor. Such considerations seem to have crossed the mind of Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for far-flung Harrow West. “Outer London is being used as a cash cow by transport bosses,” he complains, “yet things have got worse under Boris.” He is particularly displeased with the rail services so vital to suburban commuters. Thomas has concerns about housing provision too. London’s outlying areas vary greatly, of course, but they are where some of the biggest and fastest population growth is taking place. Inner London as a whole has yet to overhaul its post-war peak, whereas Hillingdon and Barnet, which lie either side of Harrow, are booming. But Thomas has been speaking up of late about issues affecting the metropolis as a whole. And he’s looking ahead. “I’m certainly very interested in the future of London,” he tells me. “I would want to contribute to the debate about it after the general election.” How very interesting, and maybe in a special way to Tooting MP Sadiq Khan, who is widely expected to seek to become Labour’s candidate to run for mayor in 2016 once the general election is over. Khan is his party’s shadow London minister. Thomas is his deputy in that role. Is Thomas, also a shadow foreign minister and former transport minister, hinting at something here? Let’s see what he’s been saying on Twitter: One Tower Bridge tenants denied access to garden - time for a Mayoral Housing Company to champion social housing. Also: If I were Mayor for a day I’d up the % of affordable homes that had to be built by housing developers - then get next Mayor to stick to it Mayoral matters do seem to be much on his mind. In his capacity as chair of the Co-operative party, he and some fellow Labour MPs have recently proposed a change in the law to allow housing associations to raise funds from local people to help with building affordable homes in London. Thomas has also been punting thoughts on reforming Transport for London (TfL), describing it at Labour List as “London’s biggest and arguably last accountable quango”. He goes on: Surely it is time that Londoners were allowed some power to shape what TfL does, affect the decisions it makes and have a voice when its spending and fares plans are put together...How could Londoners be given a greater say? The simplest way would be to create a right for all those paying council tax in London to join TfL if they want to do so. Membership of TfL would entitle London’s residents to attend annual meetings and to listen to, question and approve TfL bosses’ plans. Such a system already exists in foundation hospitals, and to a lesser extent in Welsh Water. The Mayor would still have the right of initiative, but crucially they would have to face a far more vigorous system of public scrutiny and approval. Bold thinking. And here’s Thomas two days ago, also at Labour List, on TfL’s scaled-up property development drive: The first TfL joint venture at Earls Court does not give grounds for optimism, with not one affordable home out of the 1300 planned for the site. It is difficult to see how TfL’s future plans fit in even with the current Mayor’s weak housing strategy. A different, more imaginative, Mayor interested in social housing and willing to make TfL more accountable would have come up with very different proposals. Some of these sites could have been allocated to a Mayoral Housing Company and used to build affordable housing for sale or rent, while still enabling a return to future TfL budgets. Transport for London’s land is a hugely important resource for building homes for social rent or genuinely affordable homes for sale, and the use of this land needs to be part of a joined-up response to London’s housing crisis. The current Mayor should have made this clear to TfL’s property management team when their property strategy was being drawn up. Hard to disagree with that. Thomas has a lot on his plate at the moment, what with a marginal seat to defend at the general election. But though he hasn’t actually said he’ll have a go at becoming London’s next mayor, I’d say he might be thinking about it. Wouldn’t you? |