Getting all sentimental – about a bus

A little over six years ago, I indulged myself in a secret geeky pleasure – a ride on the penultimate AEC Routemaster on a normal, cross-London bus route. It was a little misleading, because these 1960s veterans continued to ply their trade on two special ‘heritage’ routes, the 9 to Kensington High Street, and the

Seeing red in London’s mayoral contest

I cried when Ken Livingstone lost the 2008 election to Boris Johnson to become Mayor of London. Yes, I know. I’m a silly, soppy thing who takes politics far too seriously. I have soft spot for the old warhorse, and I’d been canvassing all day. I’d had a few bottles of wine, and it was late.

Head to head: Oona vs Ken

Oona’s helped out Ken on his own campaign trail in the past One of the annoyances of having a party leadership selection process running in parallel with a London mayoral candidate selection is that Facebook sends me countless invites to hustings events for either. Last Monday 26 July I ventured, in a rare move, out

Driven by the drink – thoughts on Boris Johnson’s alcohol ban

I felt compelled to respond to my boyfriend’s blog post on Boris Johnson’s somewhat misguided ban on alcohol on public transport in London, not only because I have a slightly different view but because he’s worried that no-one reads his blog! Actually, I don’t think this ban is so much as a criminal offence, but

Election postscript

I’ve never spent such a tense day as I did yesterday, constantly checking on the progress of the Mayoral election results. And when the result finally did come through, confirming our worst fears that Boris Johnson had comfortably won City Hall, it really hit home. Ken’s valedictory speech was moving, and I could detect a

Why bringing back the Routemaster isn’t the answer for London

Boris Johnson launched his transport manifesto for London today, but his ideas struggle to sound coherent or even workable. The Conservative candidate for the job of Mayor claims Ken Livingstone has “run out of ideas”, when the current incumbent of the job has demonstrated anything but. TfL is a remarkably different organisation from the old