“I can't understand why anyone would want to live the life of a politician if you can't say pretty much what you think. You are not in it for the money: there's unremitting pressure on your life, you give up so much of your privacy. It can only be because of the things you want to do and the things you want to say.”

English politician

Kenneth Robert Livingstone is an English politician, active in public life across the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Born in 1945, he is known for leading the Greater London Council and later serving as the first mayor of London. He led the GLC from 1981 until it was abolished in 1986, then served as mayor of London from 2000 to 2008. He also represented Brent East in Parliament from 1987 to 2001. A former Labour Party member, he identified as a socialist.