The policeman who pioneered the “softly-softly” approach to cannabis use is being lined up as the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor. Brian Paddick, 49, has held talks with the party about standing against Labour’s Ken Livingstone and the Tories’ Boris Johnson.
Full story here, which echoes an earlier story in Pink News.
Brian Paddick is currently running second in our online poll, behind Lynne Featherstone, who has ruled herself out of the running.
(Hat-tip: Duncan Borrowman.)
UPDATE: The Times has more on the story along with some authoratitive looking quotes from a party spokesperson.
UPDATE 2: and now in The Independent, too.
UPDATE 3: There is now a Facebook group backing Brian Paddick for Mayor.
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18 Comments
It was on BBC London News last night also.
Is he a member of the party? i thought you need to be a member for at least one year before you can apply
How long has Brian Paddick been a Party member?
If he has been a member for at least one year than we are probably right to court him to run for us
That having been said – It does concern me that none of of high profile Party members are prepared to do the business for the Party
Is it a lack of their belief in Party Policies or a reluctance to take on a fight which they might not win holding them back?
If it is the latter it probably also expllains why so few women and BME members put themselves forward Parliamentary candidates in our no hope seats !!!
If the 2008 mayoral election is going to turn into a battle of celebrity candidates then, much as we might dislike it, with Ken, Boris assured and a very telegenic Green candidate too, we need to play the game and as someone with experience in public life and policing London’s streets – and whatever he may have said about one issue, dont forget the man was in charge of policing one of London’s toughest boroughs – Brian Paddick seems like a good choice.
I hope, however, that we have the courage of our convictions and that we use the opportunity of people asking about drugs and crime policies to publicise what we really believe and what we can really acheive and that we don’t try to hide behind the same old hang-em-and-flog-em orthodoxy.
It strikes me that Brian Paddick would be a first-rate candidate. He is a party member, and was not in the past for utterly understandable reasons (he was a senior serving police officer). He was born and raised in London, and policed its streets for 30 years. He would definitely give bumbling Boris a run for his money, and with hard work from LibDems across the capital, perhaps even Ken too.
Don’t think there’s much chance of Brian Paddick talking about ‘hang-em-and-flog-em orthodoxy’ đ
As I understand it the “member for a year” provision only applies to voting in selections not standing in them.
The question why didn’t you join before is a fair one – though the answer “because I was a police officer and couldn’t” would seem an acceptable one.
Whether Brian Paddick will be the Liberal Democrats’ candidate for Mayor of London will of course be a decision for London Party members. We’re still finalising the selection timetable, and I’ll then post it here, and there will be the usual advert in Liberal Democart News. Applications will be invited from all Party members, there will be a shortlisting process undertaken by a Committe of the London Regional Party, followed by a ballot of Party members in London. The Rules say the Selection Committee shall ideally aim for a shortlist of five candidates. In the event that there were to be only one candidate then the members will have to make a yes/no decision in the ballot.
Jonathan Davies
Returning Officer
Given Ming pretty much unilaterally declared that Greg Dyke wouldn’t be our candidate, what’s to stop him citing political necessity and declaring Paddick the candidate sans contest?
In answer to 9
That he is a democrat and we are a democratic party
JD,
Not convinced. Remember the Peers List fiasco?
In answer to 9 & 11, if a candidate is imposed on the London party (which it won’t be), do you think many will go out and campaign for someone we didn’t vote for? On Greg Dyke, Ming had to decide one way or another because to run a joint LibDem-Tory candidate would mean him having to dictate to the members. Ming, being a liberal and a democrat, decided that that was unacceptable, and that the party members in London must decide.
There wasn’t anything in what Ming said to stop Greg Dyke applying to join the party and be our candidate.
His (correct) decision was about a joint candidate
This was recently drawn to my attention – Boris Johnson considers Liberal Democrats are ‘a minority that possesses a characteristic human psychological deformity’.
Here’s what he writes in his book “Have I Got Views For You”: ‘there is a third group, a minority, but a minority that possessses a characteristic human psychological deformity. They can’t stand the pettiness of intellectual consistency. They want it all ways, and are capable of holding to mutually contradictory positions at once. Their policy on cake is pro-having it and pro-eating it, and they need a party that reflects them and their politically schizophrenic personalities… There are not many Lib Dems in Parliament, but even in that tiny group they incarnate dozens of diametrically opposing positions.
‘You want to know what the Lib Dem policy is on taxation, for instance, and you want to know whether you are for or against a 50 per cent tax rate. One half of your cerebrum thinks it quite right that the rich should pay more; the other lobe thinks tax is quite high enough already. You are a perfect Lib Dem, a mass of contradictions, and your party supplies exactly what you are looking for.’
Blimey!
Whatever the Liberal Democrat campaign does it should be equidistant between Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. Johnson would be an absolute disaster.
hmmm so the rumours I heard at the by-election are true. I personally can’t see him as being a bad candidate although I woud like to hear his possition on other non police matters.
@Peter Horrie: I see no evidence that Lib Dems are more guilty of that than any other parties.
In fact, one of the main things that attracts people to us is that we don’t turn on an ideological sixpence whenever the climate suits us, unlike Blair or Cameron….
Of course, bumbling Boris is able to say that there is internal debate in our party on issues because… err… we have internal debates. In both the Tories and Labour, of course, policy is decided at the centre and dictated outwards. I know which approach I prefer.
Chris,
Blair being no longer a Labour MP?