Greater London Authority Bill

moved Amendment No. 39: 39: After Clause 16, insert the following new Clause— ““Ordinary elections Ordinary elections (1) Section 3 of the GLA 1999 Act (ordinary elections) is amended as follows. (2) In subsection (2) at the end insert ““, except that the poll due to be held on 3rd May 2012 shall be held on— (a) 2nd May 2013, or (b) a later date (not later than 31st July 2013) which the Secretary of State may specify by order.””.”” The noble Lord said: The eyes of the world will be on London when the London Olympics take place in 2012. The Mayor, whoever he or she may be after the 2008 elections, is likely to follow a pattern, already established and typical in any mayoral system, of having a number of advisers who are part of a team. Should the incumbent lose after the elections in May 2012, shortly before the Olympics, this could disrupt preparation for the Games and that team would inevitably move on if there were a change in the person holding the mayoral post. The need to run for re-election would be a damaging distraction for the incumbent fromthe energies that are needed to make a success of the Games. With the upheaval to the capital in the approach to the Olympics, a mayoral election would be an inconvenience, causing unhelpful disruption to London in addition to expected inconveniences associated with preparing for the Games. All Greater London Authority members and political parties should be focused on working together to ensure that the London Olympics are the best possible advert for the city and the country. A divisive election campaign only months before the Games would be counter-productive to this objective. The new clause is entirely outside party politics; the success of the Games will be important for the United Kingdom’s international reputation. With a partisan election, it is inevitable that the Mayor will be distracted with the election taking place just before the Olympics. There is the prospect of a great deal of distraction from the important attention that the Mayor should give the Olympic Games. I beg to move.