Supporters praised his efforts to improve rights for women, LGBT people, and ethnic minorities in London, but critics emphasised allegations of cronyism and antisemitism, and criticised his connections to Islamists and Irish republicans.

[31] Realising the Conservative governance of Lambeth Borough council was hard to unseat, Livingstone aided Eddie Lopez in reaching out to members of the local populace disenfranchised from the traditional Labour leadership.

[47] In August 1973, he publicly threatened to resign from the Lambeth Housing Committee if the council failed "to honour longstanding promises" to rehouse 76 homeless families then staying in dilapidated and overcrowded halfway accommodation.

Moving into a small flat at 195 Randolph Avenue, Maida Vale with his pet reptiles and amphibians, he divorced in October 1982 and began a relationship with Kate Allen, chair of Camden Council Women's Committee.

[68] The mainstream press criticised the coup; the Daily Mail called Livingstone a "left wing extremist", and The Sun nicknamed him "Red Ken", stating his victory meant "full-steam-ahead red-blooded Socialism for London."

I would spend hours carefully explaining our policies only to open the paper the next morning and see instead a smear about my sex-life, alleged personality defects or some completely fabricated account of a meeting or a split that never actually happened."

[79] The satirical journal Private Eye referred to him as "Ken Leninspart", a combination of Vladimir Lenin and the German left-wing group, the Spartacus League,[80] proceeding to erroneously claim that Livingstone received funding from the Libyan Jamahiriya.

Securing a significant level of support from local party members, he nonetheless failed to apply for the candidacy in time, and so the incumbent centrist Reg Freeson was once more selected as Labour candidate for Brent East.

Based on a fare freeze implemented by the South Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council in 1975, it was widely considered to be a moderate and mainstream policy by Labour, which it was hoped would get more Londoners using public transport, thereby reducing congestion.

[92] The GLC then put together new measures in the hope of reducing London Transport fares by the more modest amount of 25%, taking them back to roughly the price that they were when Livingstone's administration took office; it was ruled legal in January 1983, and subsequently implemented.

[95] ILEA attempted to carry through with its promise to cut the price of school meals in the capital from 35p to 25p, but was forced to abandon its plans following legal advice that the councillors could be made to pay the surcharge and disqualified from public office.

[97] "Arguing that politics had long been the near-exclusive preserve of white middle-aged men, the GLC began an attempt to open itself to representations from other groups, principally from women, the working-class, ethnic minorities and homosexuals but also from children and the elderly.

[104] Writing in 2008, BBC reporter Andrew Hosken noted that although most of Livingstone's GLC administration's policies were ultimately a failure, its role in helping change social attitudes towards women and minorities in London remained its "enduring legacy".

[105] Invited to the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in July 1981, Livingstone – a republican critical of the monarchy – wished the couple well but turned down the offer.

[107] The GLC orchestrated a propaganda campaign against Thatcher's government, in January 1982 erecting a sign on the top of County Hall – clearly visible from the Houses of Parliament – stating the number of unemployed in London.

Denouncing the attack, Livingstone informed members of the Cambridge University Tory Reform Group that it was a misunderstanding to view the IRA as "criminals or lunatics" because of their political motives and that "violence will recur again and again as long as we are in Ireland."

The same day as the invitation was made, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) bombed The Droppin Well bar in Ballykelly, County Londonderry, killing 11 soldiers and six civilians; in the aftermath, Livingstone was pressured to cancel the meeting.

[141] Considering it a waste of rate payer's money, Thatcher's government was keen to abolish the GLC and devolve control to the Greater London boroughs, stating its intention to do so in its 1983 electoral manifesto.

[149] In his capacity as former leader of the GLC, Livingstone was invited to visit Australia, Israel, and Zimbabwe in the following months by leftist groups in those countries, before he and Allen undertook a 5-week Himalayan trek to the base camp of Mount Everest.

[178] To receive these outside earnings, he founded a company known as Localaction Ltd.[179] In 1987 he authored an autobiography for HarperCollins, If Voting Changed Anything They'd Abolish It,[180] wrote articles for the London Daily News,[181] stood in for BBC Radio 2 disk-jockey Jimmy Young, and served as a judge for that year's Whitbread Prize.

[197] He gained the support of a wide range of celebrities, from musicians like Fatboy Slim, Pink Floyd, The Chemical Brothers, and Blur, artists like Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, and those from other fields, among them Ken Loach, Jo Brand, and Chris Evans, the latter of whom donated £200,000 to the campaign; half of what Livingstone required.

[209] The mayoral office was initially based in temporary headquarters at Romney House in Marsham Street, Westminster,[210] while a purpose-built building was constructed in Southwark; termed City Hall, it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2002, with Livingstone commenting that it resembled a "glass testicle".

[244] Livingstone's success with the congestion charge and rejuvenation of Trafalgar Square led the Labour leadership to reconsider their position on him, with Blair re-admitting him to the party and asking that he stand as their mayoral candidate for the 2004 election.

[253] Livingstone continued to champion the Palestinian cause in the Israel-Palestine conflict, in March 2005 accusing Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon of being a "war criminal" responsible for the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre.

[282] In August 2007, it was announced that Livingstone had come to an agreement with oil-rich Venezuela; Chávez's government would supply £16 million a year worth of free oil to TfL, who would use it to subsidise half priced bus fares for 250,000 Londoners on benefits.

[296] In December 2007 when Evening Standard journalist Andrew Gilligan alleged that one of Livingstone's close advisers, Lee Jasper, had used at least £2.5 million from the London Development Agency to fund black community groups associated with him.

[332] Livingstone was suspended from Labour in April 2016 after being accused of "bringing the party into disrepute" following a BBC Radio London interview in which he stated "When Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel.

[372] Historian Alwyn W. Turner commented that Livingstone's entire approach to politics revolved not simply around providing public services but in trying to change society itself; in his words, he wanted to get away from the concept of "old white men coming along to general management committees and talking about rubbish collection.

"[373] Biographer John Carvel, a journalist from The Guardian, wrote that Livingstone's political motivation was a "fundamental desire ... for a more participative, cooperative society", leading him to oppose "concentrations of power and... exploitation in all its forms – economic, racial and sexual.

[187] In 1990, BBC show The Comic Strip produced an episode entitled "GLC: The Carnage Continues..." in which Robbie Coltrane gave a fictionalised portrayal of Charles Bronson playing Livingstone in a Hollywood movie.