Mayor for London Victoria Borwick

Victoria Borwick, contender for the Conservative mayoral nomination, launches her report about the cost of the london mayor at the Centre for Policy Studies.

Mrs. Borwick revealed that Livingstone had increased his share of the council tax by 150% over the last six years – seven times more than inflation over the same period. She committed herself to freezing the mayor’s slice of the London council tax - £300 for the average family this year – and a purge of city hall staffing costs.

Mrs. Borwick and Ruth Lea, Director of The Centre for Policy Studies, discussed proposals for curbing Mayoral spending and maintaining value for money.

Mrs. Borwick and Sir Malcolm Rifkind, MP for Kensington & Chelsea, discussed the tasks to be faced in tackling problems facing Londoners whilst keeping council taxes affordable.

Mrs. Borwick and Robert Freeman, Deputy Mayor of Kensington & Chelsea, discuss her proposals for freezing the Mayoral slice of the Council tax and curbing city hall staffing costs.

Mrs. Borwick discusses her platform for mayor with Anthony Browne of The Times.

Mrs. Borwick and her supporters concluded that London's problems were rooted in poor administration from city hall. A problem best solved by a Conservative mayor

PRESS RELEASE

Centre for Policy Studies

The cost to the London council taxpayer of the London Mayor has exploded since 2000, writes Victoria Borwick in The Cost of the London Mayor, published today Thursday 1 February 2007 by the Centre for Policy Studies. (Victoria Borwick is standing for the Conservative nomination for the 2008 London Mayoral contest).

In 2000/01, the average cost of the Mayor to the London council tax payer was £123 a year for a Band D household. This year, it is £289 (an increase in cash terms of 135%). Next year, it will be over £300. Click here to read the full CPS press release. The CPS is an independent think tank concerned with promoting coherent and practical public policy, rolling back the state, reforming public services, supporting communities, and challenging threats to Britain's independence.

CLICK HERE TO READ "THE COST OF THE LONDON MAYOR" by VICTORIA BORWICK

Ken Livingstone's plan to raise his share of the average council tax bill to over £300 a year from next April has come under fire from Conservative mayoral contender Victoria Borwick

Mrs. Borwick said that the latest 5.2 per cent rise from the Mayor -twice the rate of inflation - was further proof of waste and mismanagement at City Hall.

"When Ken first took power in 2000/01 he levied a bill of £123 on the average London household. Seven years later, that has risen to £304, an increase of 147 per cent. Londoners are paying a high price for their high-spending Mayor.

"Elsewhere in London, boroughs such as Tory controlled Kensington and Chelsea are freezing the council tax for next year. Livingstone needs to discover the virtues of good housekeeping and cut down on some of his more extravagant schemes - like the £3.7 million he spends on his propaganda machine or the 670 staff he has on the City Hall payroll - at least 100 more than he needs

"Londoners are over-taxed by their Mayor and get little in return, as the latest shocking figures for juvenile crime in the capital demonstrate. But there is one way to cut the cost of Ken - to replace him with a Conservative Mayor. I will cut out waste at City Hall and bring the budget under control."