Mayor urged to explain lack of progress on meeting promises to Londoners
17 MARCH 2010
The London Assembly today expressed regret about the Mayor’s failure to make progress on many of the commitments he made in his manifesto, and called on him to explain himself to Londoners.
Assembly Members highlighted a number of areas where they believe the Mayor has failed to live up to his commitments. These included: his plans to close ticket offices at Tube stations despite promises not to do so; his intention to spend more than £100 million of public money on the cycle hire scheme after saying there would be no cost to taxpayers; and his failure to take enough action on promises to embed the London Living Wage, improve air quality and deliver 50,000 affordable homes.
Proposing the amended motion John Biggs AM told the Assembly:
“The Mayor’s failures strike at the very heart of democracy and accountability. The Mayor must keep the promises he made to Londoners about improving transport, the environment and all the other aspects of the capital he made commitments to. If he’s not going to deliver, he should hold his hands up, admit his failures and explain himself.”
Mike Tuffrey AM, who seconded the motion, added:
“The Mayor is half-way through his term and while he has made progress in some areas, the balance sheet of what he has delivered against his commitments shows a clear deficit. His flip-flopping on issues like ticket office closures and affordable housing has serious consequences for Londoners.”
The full text of the amended motion is as follows:
This Assembly regrets that the Mayor has backtracked or failed to make progress on a large number of his election promises. An election is a time of serious promises and Londoners are urgently owed an explanation.”
Notes for editors:
- The motion was agreed by 12 votes in favour.
- View the webcast of today’s Mayor’s Question Time in full at: http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/the-london-assembly/webcasts
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For more details please contact Dana Gavin in the Assembly Media Office on 020 7983 4603/4283. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit, Greater London Authority, on 020 7983 4100.
