Livingstone, Ken, 1945–, British politician. Elected to the
Greater London Council (GLC) in 1973 as a Labour member, he
became GLC leader in 1981. His use of the local office to
promote leftist policies earned him the nickname "Red Ken" and
was a major factor in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's
successful campaign to abolish the GLC in 1986. He was elected
to Parliament as a Labour member in 1987 and became a candidate
for mayor of London in 1999 after a new, Labour-controlled
Parliament established an elected London mayoralty. When he was
denied the Labour party nomination, Livingstone declared himself
an independent candidate for the office and subsequently won the
election, becoming the city's first popularly elected mayor. He
was suspended (2000–2004) from the Labour party because of his
maverick mayoral campaign. He was reelected in 2004, but lost
his bids for a third term to Boris Johnson in 2008 and 2012.
Livingstone has written If Voting Changed Anything They'd
Abolish It (1987) and Livingstone's La