London is not better because of Ken Livingstone; it's better because the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster Councils have all made an effort to improve our lives.

Ken has done nothing but whine in the corner with stories about how awful things were before he took over. Poppycock.

All he does is spend OUR money on meaningless trips to see Fascist dictators claiming credit for things completely out of his control.

The congestion charge is a waste of time and money - the latter being spent in ever increasing amounts by his army of self appointed racila advisors. Why do we need one of those I ask myself? These days there should be an advisor for white Anglo Saxon middle class males with a decent education.

Robin, London,

The congestion charge would have been introduced whoever was elected Mayor, it was written into the Act of Parliament that set up the role. Apart from that and massively subsidising public transport the achievements seem to be a bit thin on the ground.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

Sorry to say but i think Howard from Bexleyheath has a deluded view of Ken Livingstone.
Ken did not do any of those, the people of London and technology (in the case of crime) did.

ANDREW, Hackney, LONDON

Over all its hard to give ken more than 6.5 out of 10 ..
Barry - you have said congestion charge is popular amongst those who want to get rid of cars, which is hardly surprising! but next time look out of your bus and see what is causing the jam - is it delivery vans, taxis, roadworks, traffic light phasing, or perhaps you are stuck behind a cyclist in the bus lane?? london road space for cars has really shrunk while costs have balloned. also as most vehicles are travelling on business - are you happy for london's cost of living to continue to rocket??

Conducters - we have got rid of conductors yet london buses have gone from breakeven to needing subsidises of £600m - its true but does it make sense?? personally I would prefer to see them back 1000 conducters at £30k = £30 million, big deal.

manov, London, UK

STRENGTHS. Free OAP travelcard on the Underground, a brilliant idea. Just what use is a free bus pass in April to Home County OAPs without buses? Congestion charge great, so we don’t use it. Long gone are the days when we could drive from Hertfordshire, and then park in the inner courtyard of L.C.C. County Hall. Moved on to Shell building bombsite, then National Theatre, then the arches of Waterloo Bridge. Then came a new County Surveyor, pointed to the cars on the bridge and said, those many years ago, no congestion, those cars have to go. Our cars, we went.
WEAKNESSES. What a superb Ken’s Palace restaurant, a thousand times better than Morrison’s L.C.C., and a great glass of red wine in Ikea goblets, London at its best, far better food than the British Museum. Real tender meat and variety of vegetables, a great gravy, and a pudding and cream custard worth travelling for. Then one day the fifth horseman, economy, entered, and out went the Ikea glasses, and great cooking. Curb the horseman, not transport. Hopefully he has not tried the rocky mountain slab cake at the National Gallery. Thanks Staff for the pitstop on the Thames path walk.

Gut Liam, Hertford, England

In reply to Michael in London, the congestion charge is popular with the great majority who don't commute into central London by car, and who recognise that if you want to make bus travel quicker and more attractive you must relieve them from being stuck in traffic jams. None of the candidates, so far as I know, plans to abolish it.

Tony says he doesn't feel safe on the top deck, yet wants to abolish bendy buses which don't have a top deck. Bringing back conductors would be a total waste of money as there are so few cash fares for them to collect now.

Barry, Wallington, UK

I agree with Howard, Bexleyheath.

Just go, Ken.

Drew, London,

He is not that bright at end of day.
He has surrounded himself with capable advisors much cleverer than he. His difficulty is understanding the advice he is being given! Running a large metropolitan scenario requires someone better able to understand the complexities of civic necessity and civic concerne. Too much for Ken, I think

Allan

Allan, liphhok, england

You credit Ken Livingstone with the "liberating innovation" of the Oyster card. Smart card ticketing for the Underground, in the form of Oyster, stems from a private finance initiative signed by London Underground in 1997. So it isn't all Ken's achievement.

Cynthia Hay, London,

Mr Livingstone told us that he was going to put conductors on every bus in the centre of town. What we have now is silly machines that don't work most of the time, Mr Livingstone also told us that Routemasters would be safe with him. Now we have silly long buses that are not suited to London's roads and a couple of token 'Heritage Routes' which use Routemasters. We need conductors on our buses to keep us safe from the yobs who seem to infest the things. Am I alone in not feeling safe on the top deck, even in the middle of the day? I also object strongly to being forced to pay (from my council tax) for a daft newspaper which seems to spend most of its time telling me what a democrat Hugo Chavez is. I won't start on all the race business, which serves to divide rather than unite us, nor the decision to mark the anniversary of July 7th with an event telling us about how Islam is the religion of peace. Livingstone is a loony lefty and we should consign him to 'the dustbin of history.'

Tony Hillbear, London,

Regarding the Underground; I have often wondered why government, at some level, do not apply for court injunctions to bar or at least delay strikes. If nothing else, consider the loss to the Treasury by the system shutting down over an electric kettle, etc.

Dennis, Portland OR, US

Ken has transformed London - winning the Olympics and bringing prosperity and lower crime across the capital. It's difficult to remember now how miserable the place was before he took over - how timid and depressed the city felt.

Now we are poised to overtake New York as the business, fashion and music capital of the world.

Go Ken.

Howard, Bexleyheath, UK

"He has backed Sir Ian Blair, the head of the Metropolitan Police" - that in itself is an indictment!

Also, who exactly is the congestion charge "popular" with? This is certainly news to me - most of the revenue eaten up by administration costs, traffic almost back to pre-charge levels, businesses damaged, people wrongly fined all the time. A huge costly shambles forced upon people of London in the name of class warfare.

Michael, London,