One London became a registered party in November 2005 and de-registered in November 2008.[1]
2008 London Mayoral and Assembly election
In February 2008 the party announced that Hockney would be its candidate in the 2008 Mayoral election, promising to reverse the erstwhile mayor's anti-motorist policies and to halve the GLA portion of the council tax over the four-year mayoral term.[2]
On 27 March 2008 Hockney pulled out of the race to become the mayor of London. He cited a lack of media opportunities for the candidates representing smaller parties as the reason but confirmed that the party would still contest the Assembly election.[3]
The party received just 0.14% of the London-wide list vote, coming last in overall votes and losing both its Assembly seats.
Ideology and policies
Although UK withdrawal from the European Union was a central policy objective,[4] One London concentrated its efforts on the democratic deficit within London governance[5] and the discrepancy between levels of taxation and public spending in London compared to the rest of the United Kingdom.[6] It also called for the abolition of the London congestion charge and claimed to be the first party to have predicted that the cost of the 2012 London Olympics would exceed £10 billion.[7]
Controversy
The naming of the party as 'One London' caused some comment[8] as the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, had just started a public campaign under that name[9] as an attempt to build closer relations between ethnic communities following the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
