2000 London mayoral election
4 May 2000
Turnout34.43%
 
Candidate Ken Livingstone Steven Norris
Party Independent Conservative
First round vote 667,877 464,434
Percentage 39.0% 27.1%
Second round vote 776,427 564,137
Percentage 57.9% 42.1%

 
Candidate Frank Dobson Susan Kramer
Party Labour Liberal Democrats
First round vote 223,884 203,452
Percentage 13.1% 11.9%
Second round vote Eliminated Eliminated
Percentage Eliminated Eliminated

First preference votes by London Assembly constituency. Blue constituencies are those with most first preference votes for Steven Norris and grey those for Ken Livingstone

Mayor before election

Position established

Elected Mayor

Ken Livingstone
Independent

The 2000 London mayoral election was held on 4 May 2000 to elect the Mayor of London. It was the first election to the office established that year; the idea of a London mayor of a Greater London Authority (GLA) had been included in Labour's 1997 election manifesto, and after their election a referendum in London was scheduled for May 1998, in which there was a 72% yes vote with a 34% turnout.[1][2][3]

Electoral system

The election used a supplementary vote system, in which voters express a first and a second preference for candidates.[4]

  • If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first preference vote, that candidate wins
  • If no candidate receives more than 50% of first preference votes, the top two candidates proceed to a second round and all other candidates are eliminated
  • The first preference votes for the remaining two candidates stand in the final count
  • Voters' ballots whose first and second preference candidates have both been eliminated are discarded
  • Voters whose first preference candidates have been eliminated and whose second preference candidate is one of the top two have their second preference votes added to that candidate's count

This means that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters who expressed a preference among the top two.[5]

Results

Mayor of London election 4 May 2000 [6]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Independent Ken Livingstone 667,877 39.0% 108,550 776,427 57.9%
Conservative Steven Norris 464,434 27.1% 99,703 564,137 42.1%
Labour Frank Dobson 223,884 13.1%
Liberal Democrats Susan Kramer 203,452 11.9%
CPA Ram Gidoomal 42,060 2.4%
Green Darren Johnson 38,121 2.2%
BNP Michael Newland 33,569 2.0%
UKIP Damian Hockney 16,324 1.0%
Pro-Motorist Small Shop Geoffrey Ben-Nathan 9,956 0.6%
Independent Ashwin Tanna 9,015 0.5%
Natural Law Geoffrey Clements 5,470 0.3%
Independent win
  • Turnout: 1,752,303 (34.43%)
  • As the ballot papers are counted electronically, totals for all second preferences are available, even though some did not contribute to the final result.

Candidates

Candidate selection

Labour

With the first mayoral election scheduled for May 2000, Ken Livingstone stated his intention to stand as a potential Labour candidate for the position in March 1998.[1] Tony Blair did not want Livingstone as London Mayor, claiming the latter was one of those who "almost knocked [the party] over the edge of the cliff into extinction" during the 1980s.[1][2] He and the Labour spin doctors organised a campaign against Livingstone to ensure that he was not selected, with Campbell and Sally Morgan unsuccessfully attempting to get Oona King to denounce Livingstone.[1] They failed to convince Mo Mowlam to stand for the mayorship, and instead encouraged the reluctant Frank Dobson to stand.[1] Recognising that a 'one member, one vote' election within the London Labour Party would probably see Livingstone selected over Dobson, Blair ensured that a third of the votes would come from the rank-and-file members, a third from the trades unions, and a third from Labour MPs and MEPs, the latter two of which he could pressure into voting for his own preferred candidate, something that Dobson was deeply uncomfortable with.[1][3]

Information on the Blairite campaign against Livingstone became public, costing Dobson much support; nevertheless, while Livingstone won amongst party members (60% to Dobson's 40%) and among affiliated unions (72% to Dobson's 28%, a more than 2:1 vote), Dobson's landslide victory (173:27 in ratio) amongst MPs, MEPS and GLA candidates saw him win narrowly overall: forming a simple electoral college outcome of 51.5% to 48.5%.[1][3][15] Livingstone proclaimed Dobson to be "a tainted candidate" and stated his intention to run for the Mayoralty as an independent candidate. Aware that this would result in his expulsion from Labour, he publicly stated that "I have been forced to choose between the party I love and upholding the democratic rights of Londoners."[1]

First round
Candidate Elected
members
(33.3%)
Individual
members
(33.3%)
Affiliated
supporters
(33.3%)
Total
Frank Dobson 86.5% 35.3% 26.9%
49.6%
Ken Livingstone 12.2% 54.9% 71.0%
46.0%
Glenda Jackson 1.4% 9.8% 2.1%
4.4%
Second round
Candidate Elected
members
(33.3%)
Individual
members
(33.3%)
Affiliated
supporters
(33.3%)
Total
Frank Dobson Green tick 86.5% 40.1% 28.0%
51.5%
Ken Livingstone 13.5% 59.9% 72.0%
48.5%

Conservatives

Steve Norris had lost the original selection ballot for Conservative candidate to Jeffrey Archer, but Archer stood down as a candidate when a newspaper printed a story accusing him of committing perjury during a 1987 libel trial [16](he was later convicted and imprisoned).[17]

First round[15]
Candidate Votes  %
Jeffrey Archer Green tick 15,716
71.2%
Steven Norris 6,350
28.8%
Re-run[15]
Candidate Votes  %
Steven Norris Green tick 12,903
73.3%
Andrew Boff 4,712
26.7%

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hosken, Andrew (2008). Ken: The Ups and Downs of Ken Livingstone. Arcadia Books. pp. 290–291, 294–300, 305–314. ISBN 978-1-905147-72-4.
  2. 1 2 Carvel, John (1999). Turn Again Livingstone. Hatton Garden: Profile Books. pp. 253, 267. ISBN 978-1-86197-131-9.
  3. 1 2 3 Edwards, Giles; Isaby, Jonathan (2008). Boris v. Ken: How Boris Johnson Won London. London: Politico's. pp. 1–4, 10–12. ISBN 978-1842752258.
  4. "How to Vote". London Elects. Archived from the original on 8 August 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  5. Elledge, Jonn (2 May 2012). "London Elections: How The Voting System Works". The Londonist. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  6. "2000 election results for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly". London Elects. 5 May 2000. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  7. "Geoffrey Ben-Nathan". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  8. "Dr Geoffrey Clements". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  9. "Dobson: Labour's loyal hope". BBC News Online. 20 February 2000. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  10. Casciani, Dominic (23 March 2000). "Ram Gidoomal's London mission". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  11. "Damian Hockney". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  12. Main, Ed (19 January 2000). "Johnson's green scheme for London". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 17 December 2002. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  13. "Michael Newland". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  14. "Ashwin Tanna". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  15. 1 2 3 "London Mayoralty Candidate Selection 2000–2016". University of Essex. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  16. "Steve Norris: Tory who ran as a liberal". BBC. 5 May 2000. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  17. "Archer jailed for perjury". BBC. 19 July 2001. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
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