Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone is a socialist politician and former Mayor of London. Having been politically active since the late 1960s when he joined the Labour party, he was regarded as part of the "hard Left" of politicians, and dubbed "Red Ken" by some tabloids. He made two unsuccessful stands for Leader of the Labour Party in the 1990s. In 2000 he campaigned to be the Mayor of London as an independent, successfully winning the polling twice, and holding the role from 2000-2008. He has published books, including memoirs, and acted as a fictionalised version of "himself" in three separate television series: Snakes and Ladders (1989), Faith (1994) and Trevor's World of Sport (2003). Showing willingness to send himself up, Episode #1.7 (1989) had him portray himself as "Red Ken", a psychiatric patient who rubs his legs passionately after hearing the word "strike", while reading a copy of "Marxism Yesterday".