Ken wins gong cos of pro-bike stance

He may not have an oily right trouser leg, he may have lost the race to stay as Mayor of London, but Ken Livingstone has won the ‘Best Politician’ award in the Observer newspaper’s annual Ethical Awards.

There’s a brief clip of the awards photoshoot on the Guardian website. Ken has never been seen on a bike, but here he’s shown holding a roadbike in the air.

An Observer journalist says Ken won the gong because he aligned himself with London’s Green party, championing energy-efficient light-bulbs and bicycles.

He said London was close to getting a Velib-style bike rental scheme:

“I think in about a year you’ll see, just like in Paris, inside the Circle Line to start off with, racks of bikes you can use your Oyster card or credit card to hire out for just a few minutes or a day and hopefully it’ll spread out to the rest of London.”