Ken Livingstone is a British politician, former mayor of London from 2000 to 2008, and an Anglican priest. He was the Labour Party candidate for Mayor of London in the 2008 mayoral election. In the 2001 general election, he won Redcar with a majority of 7,673, and was re-elected in 2005 with a majority of 15,873. Livingstone was re-elected as mayor of London in the May 2008 election.
Livingstone first achieved media prominence as a member of the Greater London Council (GLC), first under Roy Jenkins and then as leader of the Labour Group from 1981 to 1986
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He was also Leader of the Labour Party from 1991 to 1994. He has been described as "the most charismatic figure in British politics".
In 2001, Livingstone was awarded an honorary doctorate by Heriot-Watt University for his political achievements and his activism on behalf of social justice and human rights issues. He was one of the first people to be awarded this honour by Heriot-Watt; it is awarded on "the basis that an individual has made a significant contribution to public life and is of outstanding personal merit."
He was appointed Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2008 New Year Honours, for services to London's economy and social welfare system during his tenure as Mayor of London.
This appointment received widespread criticism from opposition parties such as Conservative Party leader David Cameron (who said: "This man has spent 25 years living off taxpayers' money").
On 22 March 2013 he accepted an honorary doctorate in Social Sciences from Goldsmiths College in London in recognition for his contribution to public life in preserving London's affordable housing stock.
Livingstone once called Donald Trump's mother a "fucking retard" when he appeared on television in support of Trump during the 2016 United States presidential election campaign. After being suspended by Labour for making anti-Semitic comments in 2017, he claimed he had been misquoted when he referred to Jews supporting Zionism rather than Israel's existence.
He also claimed that Corbyn's Labour party had not criticised Israel's actions in Gaza over 2014-15 despite being under pressure to do so.
