During the Easter break, we took advantage of Bank holidays and Airbnb offers to spend a few days in London. I go there a fair bit for work stuff but rarely as a tourist so this was actually quite exciting. To be able to meander aimlessly, investigating curious side streets and the wonderful interiors of Samuel Smith pubs, was a whole host of fun.
Based out in Bermondsey, we weren’t far from Tower Bridge and City Hall, a place I’ve visited a fair few times in my day job. For the uninitiated, it’s from here, in this modern looking mis-shaped egg, that the Mayor of London directs their operation. From the south side of the Thames, the Mayor issues policies, sets ambition and counts their money.
Some people living away from London (and probably some living in London) will not realise that there’s a Mayoral election campaign running at the mo. Boris has served his dues and has his eyes on a bigger prize and so now Londoners are getting to vote for a new one. Let’s hope they’ve had enough of the Tories by now.
In ‘Now That I’m The Mayor Of London’, the fab Joe Buzfuz, who co-runs the Blang label, spells out his Dick Whittington manifesto. Some of what he proposes (growing veg in window boxes and keeping bees) is scarily aligned with the thinking of the present incumbent but other more outlandish suggestions (silence every day between two and three) might never come to pass. All of it is gently delivered on a picked and strummed acoustic guitar with the overall effect landing somewhere between an XTC out-take and a folk protest.
I don’t live in London so I can’t vote. And I’m pretty sure that Joe is not actually standing to be City Mayor. But, if these pretty big barriers were overcome, I’d be proud to say….
‘I’m voting for Buzfuz’.
sonicbreakfast 