Gather round, everybody. We’ve found Boris Johnson’s weakest spot. But we should be having a proper talk about fares, instead of moaning about 5p on a bus ticket. How about tearing up the zones map instead?

By Darryl Chamberlain
2:16 PM

Today’s news that Ken Livingstone has edged ahead of Boris Johnson in the Mayoral race has surprised a lot of commentators, but it shouldn’t.

Ken, despite his years, has been out walking the streets, pushing issues that Londoners most care about. Namely transport, crime and the cost of living.

Boris on the other hand, has campaigned like he’s governed: complacently.

The view in Team Boris is that the Mayor will “walk it” because of his natural charisma.

No need to worry about ever rising bus fares. Just set up a photo shoot with Boris hanging off the back of an expensive new bus.

No need to worry about the riots. Just wander back a few days later with a broom and some cameras.

In fact why worry about a new manifesto at all? Just promise the same set of fantasy airports and road improvements you promised last time and hope nobody can remember.

And even when it comes to his image, Boris has become complacent.

So as Londoners struggled back to work on overcrowded trains with even more expensive season tickets, Boris allowed himself to be pictured skiing in the Italian Alps.

He was perfectly within his rights to do that of course, but these aren’t the actions of a man who realises he’s got a fight on his hands.

In 2008, Ken lost because he appeared complacent and out of touch, whilst Boris campaigned on the issues that Londoners cared about.

So whilst Ken banged on about climate change, Boris banged on about knife crime.

Four years later and the opposite is now true.

Whilst Ken talks about fares, Boris talks about the 50p tax rate. Whilst Boris talks about helping bankers, Ken talks about helping commuters.

The election is still very much Boris’s to lose, but if he carries on like this then he will lose it.

By Adam Bienkov
2:00 PM

Followers of the Evening Standard’s increasingly surreal take on London life can’t have failed to have noticed it has a slight problem with the current leader of Westminster Council.

But for simply deciding that the council could raise a few pounds to help serve its residents by charging motorists more to park in streets that are served by the capital’s best public transport network, Colin Barrow has paid a heavy political price.

After the Standard led a hysterical campaign against any threat to Mayfair drivers’ freedom to clog up our roads, Cllr Barrow ended up having to backtrack and resign.

According to the Standard, being charged to park in the West End on a Saturday night was a “nightlife tax”, while adding double yellow lines to crowded city streets was beyond the pale.

But, a reasonable observer might ask, who was making the case for charging car drivers and promoting the use of the bus and the Tube?

Ken Livingstone, who introduced the congestion charge in 2003, branded the charges a parking rip-off.

Even Green candidate Jenny Jones attacked the charges, calling them “an exercise in increasing council revenues”. Heaven forbid!

So it was down to local blog Fitzrovia News to argue the point.

“All sorts of excuses have been used by those defending the right of motorists to have free parking in central London. But the motoring lobby are the real “something for nothing” group. In real terms the cost of motoring has gone down. While public transport costs have gone up, car drivers have enjoyed a relative holiday.

“Despite the media furore about Westminster City Council’s parking changes they are at least actually doing something to address the problem of pollution and congestion. Unlike all the candidates for Mayor of London, none of whom have any real proposals to tackle the problem. And it is the Mayor’s and Transport for London’s job to sort out any inadequacies in public transport, not Westminster City Council.”

Read more. Because Fitzrovia News seems to be the only voice defending central London against increased congestion at the moment. They don’t fancy standing for mayor, do they?

By Darryl Chamberlain
12:57 PM

A curious crowd greeted Boris Johnson’s New Bus For London in Bexleyheath this morning as it made the first stop on a tour of the capital’s suburbs.

Quite why Bexleyheath had been picked to begin the Borismaster’s tour is not immediately obvious – the last Routemaster in this area ran in 1982, and bendy buses were only ever seen on the news here.

With the new bus lined up for route 38 between Victoria and Clapton, it’s unlikely the Borismaster will be bothering DA6 for a long while to come.

But this area turned out one of the strongest Conservative votes in the last mayoral election. With another one on the horizon, what better time to remind locals what they voted for?

Shoppers of all ages mingled with bus fans as they explored the bus, had their picture taken with the bus, and asked questions about the bus.

It’s a good-looking thing once you step inside. The colour scheme and design are influenced by the old Routemasters, and the seats are a damn sight more comfortable than those you’ll find on many new buses.

One well-built man even commented on how much legroom there was by the seat at the front of the top deck. “We’ve taken on board views from many quarters on designing this bus,” TfL’s rep told him.

He also pointed out that the new bus would be twice as fuel-efficient as a traditional diesel vehicle, pointing at a double-decker crawling around the bus-unfriendly one-way system.

While the locals liked the interior, the concept might be a harder sell. Asking how many would be built, one passenger wondered how much her fares would rise to pay for it.

“There’s not many seats downstairs, are there?”, said one woman. “How are they going to stop people getting on without paying?,” asked another, with a man pointing out there wasn’t much room on the platform for a conductor.

One woman looked at the retro styling and chuckled: “And they reckon this bus is new?”

But the Borismaster’s novelty value seemed to win the day. “My husband won’t believe what I’ve just seen,” a woman said as she took a picture with her phone.

How it’ll fare when called into action is another matter. It’s a long vehicle, and took a while to be gingerly driven out of the shopping precinct on its way to Bromley (Tory stronghold, last saw Routemasters in 1984).

The Borismaster got a warm welcome in Bexleyheath, but will it ever come back?

By Darryl Chamberlain
1:18 PM

Remember young Boris Johnson aide Einy Shah? We met her just before Christmas, showing off her new ‘honk for Boris’ bike on Facebook.

Well, Einy’s back to start the new year with a honk. With millions of commuters returning to work today to find their rail, Tube and bus fares hiked up, Labour activists are crowing.

They say over two thousand people turned up to stations at the crack of dawn to leaflet Londoners about the fare cuts they promise if Ken Livingstone gets back in.

It wasn’t just them, mind – non-aligned groups like the Campaign for Better Transport and Bring Back British Rail have also been out complaining about the rises.

As passengers feel the pinch, what was Einy’s response on Twitter?

“well it’s been a fucking pr disaster for us – thank god for the rain…”

Language, Einy. And next time, stick “DM” in front of it, eh?

By Darryl Chamberlain
1:32 PM

So, after a year which has seen 16 cyclists die on London’s roads, which vehicle have London’s Conservatives – the ones which walk out of meetings rather than discuss road safety – chosen to help push Boris Johnson’s re-election push?

That’s right, a bicycle. Meet the Honk for Boris bike, lovingly created for 20-year-old Tory activist and Boris buddy Einy Shah by Barnet-based Cole Coachworks.

Whether the friends and families of those who have died on London’s roads will be as keen to “honk for Boris” is another matter, but photos of the bike feature on Cole Coachworks’ Facebook page.

Naturally, Shah, who’s the deputy chairman of London Conservative Future, is delighted with her new wheels. Another visitor, though, was less impressed…

“Every campaign needs an Einy!,” boasts Boris’s brother Jo Johnson. With a bike like that, she’s no doubt got a bright future – just so long as she avoids the Bow roundabout, the Kings Cross one-way system, the north side of Blackfriars Bridge, the Elephant and Castle…

By Darryl Chamberlain
2:16 PM

Conservative London Assembly Members today prevented a debate about the recent spate of cyclist deaths on London’s roads after they staged a walkout at City Hall.

Green Party Assembly Member Jenny Jones had proposed a motion calling on AMs to express their condolences to the relatives of those who died and asking the Mayor to investigate whether their deaths could have been avoided through better road designs.

The motion follows a number of recent cyclist deaths including two in the space of three weeks at Bow roundabout.

The walkout meant that the Chair had to close the meeting.

This is the second time that Conservative AMs have prevented a debate on cyclist safety.

Earlier this year, they walked out before a motion could be heard on reducing the speed limit on Blackfriars Bridge to 20mph

Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Mike Tuffrey said that today’s walkout was an “insult” to London cyclists:

“Today’s childish actions by Conservative Assembly Members have thwarted a key debate on cycle safety taking place. Their actions are an insult to every cyclist in London as well as the democratic process.”

Jenny Jones said after the meeting:

“The Tory walkout before we could take the cycling motion was perhaps partly based on embarrassment at the Mayor’s poor safety record. He has consistently ignored cycling campaigners’ advice on how to make junctions safe, leaving cyclists vulnerable to the faster traffic. This is playing with people’s lives, not delivering good government for London.”

Conservative London Assembly leader James Cleverly wrote afterwards that he had walked out in protest over not being given chairmanship of any Assembly committees.

By Adam Bienkov
12:04 PM

Many fares in London will rise by 2% above inflation this January, despite a government cap announced this week.

Average fare rises will be set at just under RPI +1%, but many fares will rise by 7.5% and some by even 8% next year.

Most child Pay As You Go rail fares will rise by 7.7% whilst a single Oyster Pay As You Go adult tube fare zones 1-2 will rise by 8% to £2.70.

TfL estimate that the rises will net them an extra £172 million worth of revenue next year.

Following the grant announced this week by George Osborne, many other fares will rise below inflation.

Bus and tram fares will also rise by much less than previous years, with a single Pay As You Go fare rising by just 5p.

However, this will still leave single bus and tram Oyster fares 50% more expensive than they were in 2008.

Fare rises are also expected to go back up to RPI+ 2% after the Mayoral election if Boris Johnson wins.

This is despite a promise from Boris not to hold down fares before an election and then “whack them up cynically thereafter.”

Announcing his fare rises today Boris said that:

“Every penny of this cash injection will go towards keeping fares as low as possible. That is very good news in the current economic climate and even better the unprecedented level of investment to improve London’s transport network will continue unabated.”

Labour’s Mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone said today that if elected next year he will cut fares.

“Rising fares under Boris Johnson or a fares cut with my Fare Deal give Londoners a very clear choice. Fares are rising when they should be cut, and as the Tory mayor has once again failed to cut them today, I will set out next week further details of how I will cut them instead”

You can read the full table of fare rises here.

By Adam Bienkov
9:40 AM

Boris Johnson’s atrocious timekeeping skills finally came back to bite him last night at the o2.

The Daily Mirror reports (via one Adam Bienkov)

The bumbling Mayor of London struck a massive fault as he distracted French star Tsonga in the ATP World Tour Final at the O2 in London. TV cameras showing the action live on BBC2 yesterday zoomed in to capture the excruciating moment the Tory blundered back to his seat. A BBC text commentary read: “BORIS STOPS PLAY! Tsonga has to check his serve as the Mayor of London bumbles to his seat.” The moment sparked a flurry of comments on Twitter before Federer went on to win the match in three sets. Adam Bienkov wrote: “Boris being booed by the crowd at the ATP World Tour final for holding up play. Oh dear.” He added: “Boris learning that his habit of being late for almost occasion not always appreciated.”

The Mayor is consistently late for events, believing apparently, that this adds to his charm.

It doesn’t, as residents of Croydon found out last week:

WHEN you are booked to make a major announcement about post riot regeneration for Croydon before 200 top businesspeople, it is a good idea to arrive on time. But things went dramatically wrong for London mayor Boris Johnson and delegates at the Develop Croydon conference were left waiting for about an hour to hear about his funding initiative… It appears his hassles started when, arriving late and on his own, at London Bridge, he leapt on the first train with an “East” on the destination board. Unfortunately the train was on its way to East Dulwich, not East Croydon.

This isn’t looking good for the Olympics is it?

By Adam Bienkov
9:25 AM

City of London’s dragons mark the border of a part of the capital that’s resisted change for centuries. Businesses have more say than residents, and the City of London Corporation retains special privileges under law.

But what the City does best revolves around money. Some 450 international banks are based in the Square Mile, and the City speaks up for the UK’s financial industry. The corporation has a fair bit of money itself. About a third of its wealth is in a private fund – City’s Cash – which is thought to be worth about £1 billion, built up over centuries from property holdings across the capital and across the globe.

By Darryl Chamberlain
10:24 AM