Today we invite you to: Ponder the mysterious case of the government and London's 100 missing registered sex offenders. Rage at the infuriating case of the Bromley carer, the bolshy council, and the £80 PCN paid entirely in pennies. Puzzle over the perplexing case of the South West London nurseries closed without any notice. Gawp at the strange case of the Turner Prize, the scouse film lecturer and Homer Simpson. Smile knowingly at the......

It's news to us - we were under the impression that as a former Met Assistant Commissioner, bête noire of the Daily Mail and Lib Dem Mayoral candidate, he had a real career, and wasn't in need of the shameless self-publicity that comes with a stint on "reality" TV. Yet in perhaps the most unexpected appearance since George Galloway's Celebrity Big Brother turn, Brian Paddick has been unveiled as one of the contestants for I'm......

Londoners are all hot and bothered over the exact voting procedure they will be faced with in the mayoral election, according to the Evening Standard. The use of the second preference system appears to be causing some puzzlement, with 30% of those surveyed by the paper admitting they were unaware of its employment in tomorrow’s vote, and just 39% claiming they were fully clear about the process. It seems that amidst all the insults......

In an attempt to wheeze a bit of life into his flagging mayoral campaign, Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick has called for bus drivers to become 'have-a-go heroes' and tackle crime and anti-social tomfoolery on their double-deckers. The former cop inveigled bus drivers to take action against criminal activities on their rides. He cautioned that they should pick their fights carefully, and "choose which crowd to take on", before (rather like the playground bully)......

So what are the weary vote-chasers' final offers? Ken Livingstone has been in Vauxhall launching a poster campaign advising Londoners to imagine Boris Johnson in charge of a £39 billion public transport improvement programme. It's punchline? "Suddenly, he's no joke." Then he launched his manifesto for women and ignored another YouGov poll while his office responded tartly to a hit and run attack by TravelWatch chairman Brian Cooke. Apparently, Brian wasn't keen on the Freedom......

One of the few things we can be sure of about the mayoral race is that Boris and Ken in particular are knackered. But with just three full campaigning days remaining they must now run harder than ever. If the opinion polls are telling us anything, it is that neither can be certain which of them will win and that every single vote–first or second preference–is precious to them. Livingstone’s strategy between now and......

Remember that circus surrounding the Olympic Torch parade last month? With the sinister, shell-suited Chinese security team, met officers barging protesters out the path of the torch and ex-Blue Peter presenters looking like rabbits caught in headlights? Well, a Metropolitan police authority report has revealed that said security presence cost a whopping £750,000. And while it’s not Londonist’s style to bluster about taxpayer’s money and wotnot, according to Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick,......

Does anyone know who’s winning? On Monday, according to YouGov, it was Boris Johnson by a massive 13 points. But on Wednesday, according to Ipsos-MORI, it was Ken Livingstone by one, prompting The London Paper to dub him 'Comeback Ken'. So, is Ken coming back or is he a goner? Londonist is as baffled as everyone else but maybe the past week contained some clues about which way the tide is going. On Tuesday,......

Ah, Brian Paddick. He's almost as much of a media figure as Boris Johnson, which is pretty well why the Lib Dems opted for him as their challenger to the court of Ken (as we noted at the time). This Londonista even remembers sharing the same South London air with the erstwhile police commander during his softly softly stint in policing the mean streets of Lambeth (our notional file on him recalls his Paul......

If you’re paying attention to the mayoral race you probably already know a little about where the candidates stand on crime and bendy buses. But what candidate will be best for your bank account? To help you answer that question, we’ve put together a quick economic summary of the big-party candidates: Ken Livingstone We already have a pretty good idea of what the incumbent will do in this area — more of the same.......

There was so much crazy action in the mayoral campaign last week that Londonist was left gasping to keep up. The most entertaining bit was when Boris Johnson launched his environment manifesto with a photo opportunity on Hampstead Heath. BBC London viewers and others were treated to the splendid sight of The Blond hacking his way through a patch of north London undergrowth – perhaps specially provided for the occasion, who knows? – wearing......

Londonist was at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday for the formal launch of Ken Livingstone’s mayoral election campaign. Setting aside the usual cynicism about politicians and the worrying stuff in those Evening Standard exposes, it was a stirring occasion. Doreen Lawrence introduced the mayor, paying tribute to his achievements including his contribution to putting the capital at ease with its own cosmopolitanism. He thanked her for her role in improving the attitude of......

The bendy bus comes in for regular bashings, and the articulated eyesore is one of the hot topics in the Mayoral election, with Boris Johnson threatening to scrap it altogether in favour of a remixed Routemaster. Now a new report comes along that suggests the bendy's popularity with fare-dodgers is bigger than ever. According to a Liberal Democrat study, fare evasion has almost doubled from 2.2% in 2003 to 3.9% last year. This coincides......

All I do each night is pray...hoping that I'll be electable again some day. The highlight of the mayoral election week came at the Evening Standard’s Influentials Debate at the RSA on Monday, when Ken Livingstone told LBC breakfast host Nick Ferrari why he doesn’t drive. He revealed that he’d tried cars when a young man because he’d thought it would help him to get girls, but in the end had decided to “concentrate on......

It’s been another bruising week in the London mayoral election campaign. Eccentric Tory contender Boris Johnson may have had the best of it. On Tuesday Ken Livingstone announced that drivers of gas-guzzlers will be charged £25 to enter the Congestion Zone from October – assuming he’s re-elected. The Greens support the move, but the Lib Dems’ Brian Paddick – he’s the gay, “cannabis cop” from Brixton, you’ll recall – was critical, notably of the same......

While lesser politicians find themselves embroiled in the mundane tracasseries of campaign funding, our Mayor takes a more creative tact. Twenty artists, including Banksy, Antony Gormley and Marc Quinn, are selling their work to raise money for Livingstone’s re-election. The ‘Bid For Ken’ auction takes place at 7pm on 6 March at the Aquarium Gallery in Farringdon. Boris Johnson is courting the creatives too. He of the humorous initials is focussing on ’singers, rappers......

We've not lately delved into what's been bubbling away in the run-up to London's elections next year. So Wilkommen, Bienvenu, Welcome to this new and possibly occasional feature to catch up with what's going on out there. Let's have a rummage and see who's up and who's down: Mayor Ken fights back in a hefty spat with Evening Standard over a hatchet-job on his race advisor. Standard's tactics are questionable, but the story went......

Brian Paddick of the “softly softly” approach towards cannabis will not be happy. A “zero tolerance” crackdown on its users has just been decided by police and lawyers, who believe tough action to be the only solution. The policy shift will first take the form of a three-month operation in the crime-ridden Latchmere area of Battersea. Those openly dealing the drug will no longer be given merely a warning, rather will be arrested and then......

The fifth in our series of interviews with potential candidates for next year's Mayoral election. Previously: Victoria Borwick (Tory), Andrew Boff (Tory) and Warwick Lightfoot (Tory), Sian Berry (Green). Today: Liberal Democrat candidate Fiyaz Mughal. He's competing with fellow LDs Brian Paddick and Chamali Fernando to represent his party in next year's elections. Would you vote for him? Read his ideas below. Where do you live in London and what do you like best......

The four Tory hopefuls (or 'Top Tories' in tabloid sub-editor's argot) for next May's London mayoral elections will be put through their paces at a hustings for Conservatives in the capital this evening, where this Londonista has managed to bag a seat (despite neither being a Tory nor originally from London) to report whatever clangers Boris Johnson intentionally drops into the mix. The winner (ie. Boris) will then be declared to an audience of dozing......

You could be forgiven for not giving a fig about how the candidates for the London mayoral elections in 2008 are shaping up. Londonist, however, does. On the left, the Greens were first off the block in March with the selection of anti-4x4 campaigner Sian Berry, followed by Respect (remember them?) in April with Lindsey German, who stood last time on behalf of Team Galloway. For the far right, the British National Party have selected......

Maybe it's the heat, but May in London has become a veritable political gay-fest. Last week, a gay man took the helm of Richmond Borough Council for the first time, and announced 'diversity' as a key theme for his year in office. This happens just as rumours intensify that popular gay copper Brian Paddick might run for London Mayor. And now, to complete the hat-trick, the leader of Westminster Council came out in some......

The fight for London Mayor is seriously beginning to kick off. Our Ken, Greg Dyke, John Major, that the guy from the Big Issue - all have been fingered for the job. Now the latest candidate being touted is none other than Brian Paddick. Paddick is the Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. In Lambeth he famously focused his efforts on class A drug dealers and took a 'relaxed' approach to cannabis use.......

There were a few reports in the papers recently saying that Brian Paddick, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Met and officially "the UK's most senior gay police officer" is about to retire. The story is that Padick will leave the force late next year and maybe make a move into politics: The deputy assistant commissioner, who once admitted he found the idea of anarchism attractive, is keen to pursue a new career in......