Tag Archives: Caroline Pidgeon

Caroline Pidgeon AM challenges London Mayor over unpaid congestion charges

By Mary Reid | Fri 15th February 2013 - 11:05 am

Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly, has challenged the London Mayor over congestion charges that have been evaded by embassies in the capital.

In answer to Caroline’s written question the Mayor admitted that embassies currently owe around £68 million. By the end of the year they will owe the equivalent to almost £10 to every Londoner.

The majority of embassies have some charges to pay. Two years ago the Liberal Democrat group studied the data gleaned through a Freedom of Information request and found that about a quarter of all embassies in London refuse to pay any charges at all. These persistent evaders include some of the richest countries in the world – US, Russia, Japan and Germany. To date the American Embassy owes over £7 million in unpaid charges

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Posted in News | Also tagged congestion charge and mayor of london | 7 Comments

Ece, Pidgeon and Swinson nominated for Women in Public Life awards

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 6th February 2013 - 2:30 pm

Every year, Women in Public Life hold awards to celebrate female leaders across politics, journalism and business. As Dame Kelly Holmes puts it on their website:

Women are under represented in business, the arts and politics. These awards help to highlight and reward the achievements of women and encourage others to pursue leadership roles and to strive for greater representation. I encourage all

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Posted in News | Also tagged Jo Swinson, meral ece and women in public life | 2 Comments

Congratulations, Caroline Pidgeon

By Mark Pack | Sat 29th December 2012 - 12:05 am

It’s great to see Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours.

She has been, is, and I’m sure will continue to be, one of the most effective London Assembly members of any party. Her MBE rightly recognises her skill and tenacity in holding to account the Mayor and providers of key public services in London.

Congratulations Caroline.

(Personally, I’d prefer it if we had an honours system which normally didn’t give awards to politicians at all, but as we do it’s lovely to see such a good …

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Posted in News | 13 Comments

Success for Caroline Pidgeon’s cycling safety campaign as new lights to be tested

By Mark Pack | Sun 16th September 2012 - 12:15 pm

As the Evening Standard reports there’s good news for one of the issues London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon has been campaigning for with others:

Traffic lights for cyclists are to be brought in under plans to improve safety on the capital’s streets.

Transport for London has pledged to test the Dutch-style lights, which will be at eye-level and could be staggered to give bikes a head start…

TfL chiefs are holding talks with the Department for Transport about installing the equipment as it would require a law change. But managing director for surface transport Leon Daniels suggested that TfL would press ahead with a trial regardless.

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged cycling | 1 Comment

Who Lib Dem members think are the most effective non-MPs at promoting the party

By Stephen Tall | Tue 14th August 2012 - 7:55 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 500 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Oakeshott, Ashdown and Pack top your list

LDV asked: Which prominent Lib Dems who are NOT MPs (eg, peers, campaigners) are doing an effective job of promoting the party to the public? Please write-in.

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged brian paddick, chris davies, chris rennard, evan harris, kirsty williams, lord mcnally, Mark Pack, matthew oakeshott, paddy ashdown, ros scott, shirley williams, stephen tall, susan kramer, tony greaves and willie rennie | 6 Comments

Opinion: Three steps to better campaigning in London

By Ed Fordham | Wed 30th May 2012 - 3:24 pm

Immediately after the London Mayoral and GLA election Mike Tuffrey wrote some very shrewd observations on Lib Dem Voice. Now the dust has settled and the election results are known by ward perhaps it is time to think through the next stage of learning.

For me getting Caroline Pidgeon re-elected was always a top priority. I’m delighted that she has been joined by my long-standing friend Stephen Knight – the shame being that they are not joined by Bridget Fox and Shas Sheehan. But Stephen and Caroline will punch above their weight and the work they have already started …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged london and mike tuffrey | 3 Comments

Opinion: Learning lessons from London – two and half quick reflections

By Mike Tuffrey | Sun 6th May 2012 - 3:25 pm

Let’s start with the facts….

Overall turnout was down to 38%, from 45% last time.
Two Liberal Democrat Assembly members elected, compared to three in 2008 and five in 2004.
Mayoral vote was 92,000 (4.2% – and deposit lost), compared to 236,752 (9.8%) in 2008.
Our Assembly list vote was 150,447 (6.8% – just over the threshold), against 275,272 (11.4%) in 2008.
The Greens “pushed the Lib Dems into fourth place”: actually their Assembly vote flat-lined at 8.5%, although their Mayoral vote was up a bit, from 3.2% to 4.5%.

First off, a big thank you to Brian Paddick, his brilliant deputy Caroline Pidgeon, and the …

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Posted in London and Op-eds | Also tagged brian paddick | 27 Comments

London elections results open thread

By Mary Reid | Fri 4th May 2012 - 10:00 am

The count for the Mayor of London and the members of the London Assembly is now underway in Olympia, ExCel and Alexandra Palace.

Once again, the electorate have had to cope with not one but three different voting systems.

Mayor of London

There are seven candidates for the Mayor of London, with Brian Paddick standing for the Liberal Democrats.

Voters had the opportunity to mark a first and a second preference candidate on the ballot paper. If one candidate achieves more than 50% of the first preference votes then that person is elected. If, as is more likely, no candidate passes the 50% ...

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged brian paddick, london assembly and london mayoral election | 21 Comments

Guardian hails Paddick proposals as “properly liberal”, progressive and bold

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 11th April 2012 - 2:54 pm

We’re not so used to the Guardian saying nice things about Liberal Democrats these days, but Dave Hill is full of praise for the London Liberal Democrat Manifesto for the Mayoral and Assembly elections which was launched yesterday, calling it liberal, progressive and bold. This is what he has to say about policing and transport proposals:

Mayor Paddick would give each London neighbourhood its own “plan for policing,” with local residents and businesses having input into policing priorities in their areas. His “Paddick patrols” of community groups and residents associations would act as the “eyes and ears” of the police on

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Posted in News | Also tagged brian paddick, dave hill, guardian and london mayoral election | 8 Comments

All Aboard! One hour bus campaign moves up a gear

By Caroline Pidgeon | Tue 27th March 2012 - 7:22 pm

Tomorrow Brian Paddick and I are boarding our first campaign bus together, and what better way to celebrate than using it to launch our great One Hour Bus Ticket policy.

We’ll be travelling round eight London boroughs informing residents that the Lib Dems are dedicated to targeting fare reductions at those Londoners who need them most. Our Fairer Fares package proposes six ways to save, one of which is a One Hour Bus Ticket that will allow people to hop-on and hop-off buses as many times as needed within one hour, paying only one single fare.

The scheme works successfully in several …

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Posted in News | Also tagged brian paddick, one hour bus ticket and twitter | 2 Comments

Boost for Brian as Lib Dem London fundraising hits £400k

By Stephen Tall | Mon 19th March 2012 - 7:55 am

The media may be focusing on the Boris v Ken show for London mayor, but Brian Paddick’s Lib Dem campaign is making some noise. His hard-hitting campaign posters focusing on crime — an issue the former police commander in the Metropolitan police knows first-hand how to tackle — abound in London.

And one of the reasons Brian is able to achieve this exposure is the success of the London Lib Dem fundraising effort. I understand that the total raised has, or is about to, pass the £400,000 …

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged brian paddick, fundraising and london lib dems | 6 Comments

Brian Paddick: It is vital that we maximise our vote for the London Assembly

By Mark Pack | Sat 10th March 2012 - 11:43 am

The fantastic Sage conference hall was the venue for Brian Paddick’s speech to the Liberal Democrat spring conference.

Or rather, his co-speech. Because for the purposes of the London 2012 campaign, Brian Paddick is no more. Instead he has been merged into Brian-Paddick-Caroline-Pidgeon.

It is one of the lessons from previous London campaigns that the party needs to be far better at turning profile for a Mayor candidate into votes for the London Assembly list, the best prospect for the party to gain new seats.

This then was not Brian Paddick’s speaking slot. It was the Brian-Paddick-Caroline-Pidgeon speaking slot, preceded by the Brian-Paddick-Caroline-Pidgeon …

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Posted in Conference and London | Also tagged boris johnson, brian paddick and shas sheehan | 5 Comments

Sometimes a bus is just a bus

By Mark Pack | Sat 25th February 2012 - 10:50 am

When Boris Johnson promised that if elected Mayor of London he would introduce a new Routemaster bus, I don’t think many expected him to interpret that quite as literally as he has.

For by the end of his term in office, there won’t be hoardes of new Routemaster buses on London’s roads. Not even scores or dozens. But there will be a new Routemaster bus. One bus. Just the single bus.

As London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon puts it:

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged boris johnson | 25 Comments

London Liberal Democrats – helping those with the smallest pockets get to work

By Caroline Pidgeon | Tue 17th January 2012 - 2:52 pm

Last week Brian Paddick and I launched a fairer fares package ahead of this year’s London Mayoral and Assembly elections.

Boris Johnson has been Mayor of London since 2008. In just four years he has increased the cheapest bus fare from 90p to £1.35 – and he had planned to raise fares even further until the Coalition Government stepped in and helped limit the rise. As well as bus fares, the cost of travelling on the Tube, the Docklands Light Railway, the Croydon Tramlink and the London Overground have all soared under Mr Johnson’s mayoralty.

Of course there …

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged brian paddick, london and tfl | 10 Comments

London Lib Dems hit out at Boris’s fare hikes as “shameful”

By The Voice | Tue 3rd January 2012 - 11:25 am

London Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick and leader of the London Lib Dems Caroline Pidgeon have criticised Boris Johnson’s 7% price hike for public transport fares which came into force today. Here’s the party’s official statement:

Commenting on the Mayor’s 2012 fare rises being introduced today Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate said:

“Once again we start the year with another painful fare package from Boris Johnson. For the fourth year in a row he has racked up fares by far more than the rate of inflation.

“His latest rises will simply add to the financial problems

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Posted in News | Also tagged boris johnson, brian paddick and dave hill | 4 Comments

Questions left hanging over Boris’s cable car

By Nick Thornsby | Mon 17th October 2011 - 9:58 am

Conservative politicians spend much of their time criticising their Labour counterparts for the often-inefficient way in which they spend public money. This is often quite justifiable: the many billions wasted through disastrous PFI schemes, abandoned IT projects and expensive-but-pointless gimmicks under Labour are a shameful legacy.

But the gap between this Tory rhetoric and reality is often rather stark, and nowhere is this more evident than with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Take, for example, one of Boris’s pet projects of a cable car to transport people between the O2 arena and the Excel exhibition centre (both Olympic venues). Sounds like …

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Posted in News | Also tagged boris johnson, mike tuffrey and tfl | 5 Comments

Guide dogs allowed on London Underground escalators – Caroline Pidgeon campaign success

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd October 2011 - 8:50 am

Following a campaign by Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, the legal ban on guide dogs travelling on the escalators on the London Underground is being lifted on Wednesday.

Transport for London and the Government are changing a by-law which originated in the era of wooden escalators which could expand and contract depending on heat and humidity. This meant larger gaps have to be left by default than on modern metal escalators, with resulting fears that guide dogs (now often called assistance dogs) might get their paws stuck …

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Posted in London | Also tagged boris johnson | 2 Comments

A tale of two holes – and a £39m price tag

By Mark Pack | Wed 7th September 2011 - 7:54 am

In principle, I have no objection to people digging holes in the ground. Even very expensive holes. Potholes? Bad. But lift shafts, underground tunnels and other such excavations? Good. A big hole that loops back on itself and could* end the universe? That’ll do nicely. The combination of a hole, Bernard Cribbins and Lego? Excellent.

If I had to postulate a general theory of holes, I’d say that a hole that is not used is a bad hole. And two holes that are not used are doubly bad.

Which brings me to the question of the £39 million spent …

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Posted in London | Also tagged boris johnson, craig brown, featured, ken livingstone, tfl and transport | 13 Comments

Brian Paddick selected as Liberal Democrats’ London Mayoral Candidate for 2012

By Helen Duffett | Fri 2nd September 2011 - 7:27 pm

Jonathan Fryer, Chair of London Region Liberal Democrats emails party members in London with the news:

The count has just been completed in the ballot for the Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate for 2012.

The selection contest turned into a really close race, reflecting the excellent choice of candidates London members were presented with.

I would like to congratulate Brian Paddick warmly on his victory, and all of us at Team London look forward to working with him and our GLA candidates over the next eight months to ensure the best possible result in May.

Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrat Mayoral Candidate for 2012

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged brian paddick and jonathan fryer | 16 Comments

Mike Tuffrey writes… The Big Switch: turning London’s buses and taxis electric

By Mike Tuffrey | Mon 25th July 2011 - 12:53 pm

Rudolf Diesel has a lot to answer for. The compression engine he invented has become the great workhorse of heavy duty vehicles like the buses, taxis and vans which fill our streets. But the nasty side effect of diesel fuel is fine particulate exhaust emissions that are creating a major health crisis. Tiny particles get deep into the lungs, causing thousands of premature deaths and a big increase in ill health.

The biggest culprit in central London, where the health problems are most acute? Yes, buses, taxis …

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Posted in London and Op-eds | Also tagged chris huhne and transport | 12 Comments

Mike Tuffrey writes… My kinda campaign … working towards success in 2014

By Mike Tuffrey | Wed 13th July 2011 - 11:53 am

Ol’ blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, used to sing about “My kinda town…” Rest assured, I won’t be singing. But let me tell you about London – my town – and the kind of campaign I intend to run as our candidate to be Mayor of London.

The test of success in the 2012 campaign isn’t just the number of votes we win in the Mayor contest – it is how many Assembly members we get elected and how many councillors, councils and MEPs we get elected in 2014.

Our very best London-wide campaigning in the past – such as that led …

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Posted in London and Op-eds | Also tagged lynne featherstone and susan kramer | 4 Comments

Brian Coleman tops lists of expense claims, again

By Mark Pack | Mon 16th May 2011 - 7:24 am

Conservative London Assembly member Brian Coleman has often been in the news over the years for his expense claims (not to mention his attempt to ban questions of himself), so I hesitate slightly to says it is “news” that new figures from the London Fire Brigade show him topping the list of expense claims:

Assembly Member
Brian Coleman	April 2010 to March 2011	£3,480.20
Darren Johnson	April 2010 to March 2011	£0.00
Gareth Bacon	April 2010 to March 2011	£0.00
Mike Tuffrey	April 2010 to March 2011	£0.00
Murad Qureshi	April 2010

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged brian coleman, ed butcher, mike tuffrey and terry stacy | 10 Comments

Unpaid Congestion Charge fees and fines by embassies set to break £50m barrier

By Mark Pack | Fri 4th February 2011 - 1:55 pm

As of yesterday, the total in unpaid Congestion Charges and penalties run by embassies in London was £49.4m and at the current rate of growth that figure will break the £50m barrier later this month.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon has said, “The amount in unpaid Congestion Charges and Penalty Charge Notices owed by embassies is now so large that it could pay for more than 260 new buses on London’s streets, or fund the significant expansion of the cycle hire scheme, or alternatively reduce fare rises.”

Or, as she didn’t say, £50m could pay for one Fernando Torres.

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged congestion charging | 9 Comments

Transport for London offers up more data for free

By Mark Pack | Sun 19th December 2010 - 9:55 am

Over the summer we reported the welcome news that Transport for London was making more of its data available for others to reuse:

It’s a smart move because it means the emphasis on working out how to make best use of the data shifts from TfL to the wider commercial sector. That means people can experiment (and fail) in a way that is much harder when politicians, media (and yes, bloggers) are looking over your shoulder waiting to shout “Waste of public money!” if an idea doesn’t pan out. It also means that Transport for London can concentrate on what it is (or should be) good at – running transport services, whilst letting those who are good at developing data services and marrying up different commercial ideas can do what they’re good at.

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Posted in London | Also tagged tfl | 6 Comments

Result: GLA Londonwide list selection

By Helen Duffett | Tue 14th December 2010 - 3:12 pm

London Liberal Democrats have today announced their team of candidates for the London Assembly top-up list in 2012. Caroline Pidgeon AM topped the poll of London Liberal Democrat members to lead the London Assembly campaign in 2012.

The list is as follows:

Caroline Pidgeon
Stephen Knight
Bridget Fox
Shas Sheehan
Jeremy Ambache
Merlene Emerson
Emily Davey
Steve Bradley
Marisha Ray
Nick Russell
Ajmal Masroor

Turnout was 55.6%.

Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington and London Spokesperson Tom Brake said:

The Liberal Democrats have a proud record on the London Assembly of holding the Mayor to account. Our Assembly members have led the fight for better value for money from City Hall, better transport services

…

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Posted in London | Also tagged ajmal masroor, bridget fox, emily davey, featured, jeremy ambache, marisha ray, merlene emerson, nick russell, shas sheehan, stephen knight and steve bradley | 18 Comments

LDV survey: who Lib Dem members want to be the party’s candidate for Mayor of London

By Stephen Tall | Wed 22nd September 2010 - 9:45 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of the early race for the party presidency, the London mayoral selection, Trident, and the Labour leadership. Over 400 party members have responded, and we’re currently publishing the full results.

LDV asked: The following names have been suggested as possible contenders to take on Boris Johnson for the elected position of Mayor of London. Who would you like to see stand as the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London?

12% – Lembit Opik
11% – Brian Paddick
15% –

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged brian paddick, duwayne brooks, floella benjamin, lembit opik, London and susan kramer | 14 Comments

What Lib Dems are saying (or not) about Andy Coulson

By Stephen Tall | Mon 6th September 2010 - 7:00 pm

The official Lib Dem line on Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s director of communications, could not have been clearer prior to the election: this Voice headline from July 2009 gives the flavour – Huhne on Coulson: “either complicit or incompetent”.

Yet the party leadership has been noticeably more reticent to comment on the most recent allegations, triggered by the New York Times’s typically thorough investigation.

(What does it say, by the way, about the quality of the British news media today that — with the honourable exception of The Guardian — it was left to a US newspaper to …

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Posted in News | Also tagged adrian sanders, andy coulson, chris huhne, jonny oates, lembit opik, media and phone tapping | 33 Comments

Peddling myths over London’s bike hire scheme

By Caroline Pidgeon | Sat 14th August 2010 - 11:50 am

In London one of the most exciting developments this year has been the long awaited launch of the bike hire scheme.

Despite its launch being associated with quite a number of problems – including a highly complex registration process, and a number of cyclists being overcharged – no one can deny that the scheme is proving incredibly popular. And let’s be realistic, no major scheme ever starts without at least some minor teething problems. Of course I will be chasing hard until these glitches are resolved, and they certainly …

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Posted in Local government and London | Also tagged boris johnson, ken livingstone and lynne featherstone | 9 Comments

Welcome news as London transport data opened up

By Mark Pack | Tue 15th June 2010 - 3:20 pm

As Wired reports:

Transport for London has announced that it’s lifting all restrictions on the commercial use of its data. The move could fuel an explosion in mobile apps that need access to the datasets, making them more attractive to developers who want to charge for their apps.

Currently, TfL offers up a selection of datasets, including live traffic cameras, Oyster card top-up locations, pier and station locations, cycle hire locations, and riverboat timetables. Some new data has been issued, including live tube travel info and departure boards, and the transport giant also plans to release further information on bus stops,

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged tfl | 9 Comments

London Assembly to review May 6 polling problems

By Helen Duffett | Fri 11th June 2010 - 3:20 pm

The London Assembly has unanimously passed a motion calling for an investigation into how polling was conducted for the general and council elections in May.

From the BBC:

The review comes after hundreds of Londoners were unable to vote and left queuing as polling booths closed.

About 300 people were turned away in Lewisham and another 150 were unable to vote in Hackney. Long queues were also seen in Vauxhall and Brockley.

The review will look at the issues of overcrowding and as well as allegations of electoral fraud.

The review will be conducted by the Business Management and Administration Committee, …

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Posted in London and News | 2 Comments