The problem

There were 132 people killed on London’s roads in 2013, of which half were pedestrians. There were, too, more than 2,000 serious injuries. While the casualty figures on the roads have been reducing over the years, in absolute terms the number of deaths is still far too high and there is still a casual acceptance that this is the price that must be paid for Londoners’ mobility. That is not the case. As examples from other countries have shown, treating the road casualties as a serious public health issue can lead to dramatic improvements in road safety. A radical new approach to the issue is required.

The Tories have been remarkably slow off the mark in discussing possible candidates to replace Boris. Those that have stuck their head above the parapet so far are hardly likely to enthuse the electorate.

Wolmar for London unveils plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street, with boosts to business and the environment.

Christian Wolmar spoke at Base London, a high-profile conference focusing on the future of London, on the 26th June at the Guildhall. Christian was asked to respond to presentations about two major London developments: Nine Elms on the South Bank, and the Meridian Water plan in Enfield.

According to senior Labour party sources, Margaret Hodge, the MP for Barking and Dagenham, and chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee is about to announce that she will be seeking the Labour nomination for the 2016 London mayoral election.

The next London Mayor will face many challenges. How do we provide housing and transport that is affordable to all Londoners? How do we improve air quality and the built environment to make London more liveable? How do we meet these challenges in a sustainable way to ensure London’s prosperity for generations to come?

In a wide ranging interview on the Late Debate on ITV, Alastair Stewart talked to Christian about his bid to become Mayor of London in 2016. Christian explained the reasons he decided to seek the nomination and set out his plans for a more affordable, liveable and sustainable London. Watch the clip below!

The Wolmar for London campaign is hosting a half-day conference to discuss the big issues facing London, and what a Labour Mayor could do about them. Three panels of speakers will focus on housing, transport and liveability.

London mayoral candidate Christian Wolmar sets out powerfully the arguments against the construction of a high speed line between London and the north in a major article in the latest issue of the London Review of Books.

The huge extra cost to Londoners of the ‘new bus for London’ is posing a threat to bus services. The WolmarforLondon campaign has discovered that the cost has reached nearly £7m annually and is set to rise as more buses come on stream.

The figures released today by the Stop Killing Cyclists campaign highlight the urgent need to make London’s roads safer for all. They show that most boroughs have failed to introduce any segregated cycle lanes and few have plans to do so. Given the high death toll of cyclists and the increase in numbers, this shows a lack of concern about a key proportion of road users.

The Wolmarforlondon campaign welcomes the report by the Resolution Foundation calling for radical improvements to the minimum wage.

Boosting low pay is not just beneficial to those directly affected. The increased income for these low earners is likely to be spent on local businesses and services which helps the stability and prosperity of communities. Increasing the minimum wage and encouraging employers to pay the living wage consequently would be good for London as a whole. Moreover, it would reduce the benefits bill since people on low pay often have to claim benefits to ensure they can provide even the basics for themselves.

In a speech at the Centre for London, Christian Wolmar, who is seeking the Labour nomination for the 2016 London mayoral election, argues that the Metropolitan Police is too big and needs to be broken up.

By Tom Harris MP, Telegraph blog 24 October 2013

As anecdotes go, this isn’t much of one at all, but it briefly concerns a celebrity I want to write about, so here goes.

Last year, as I exited a karaoke bar in Soho with a group of parliamentary colleagues, I bumped into Eddie Izzard. He was with a group of his friends, one of whom was a very loud and slightly aggressive Scottish girl who chose to pick a fight with me when I approached Eddie to introduce myself.

The Wolmarforlondon mayoral campaign is holding its first fringe event at the Labour party conference, with four key speakers on the theme: ‘What does London want from a Labour mayor?’.

Christian Wolmar, one of the UK’s leading transport commentators who is seeking the Labour nomination for the 2016 London mayoral elections, has welcomed announcements by Ed Miliband on reforms to candidate selection and the potential introduction of an open primary for the Party’s London mayoral nomination.

Boris Johnson gave us a the possibility of a double nightmare scenario, yesterday – driveless trains on the Tube and a third term of his do-nothing mayoralty.

Christian visited campaigners against the plans to demolish 600 homes in Camden for HS2 last week. He was given a detailed presentation on a better plan for Euston station, which would not require demolition and shown round estates which are scheduled to be evacuated by tenants and leaseholds by 2015.

On a visit to Croatia where Christian Wolmar will be addressing a conference on the British experience of rail privatisation, he will also be meeting representatives of a new political party interested in radical new policies for cities.