27/10/2006
NEWS STORY
Speaking at the announcement of the 2007 Tour de France, which will kick off in London (!), publicity-shy Mayor, Ken Livingstone, said that despite speculation, the capital will never host a Formula One Grand Prix as it would not make economic sense.
"To get a grand prix you are talking about £30m," he said. "If I dipped into the council-tax-payers' pockets to come up with £30m for a Grand Prix I don't think I would be able to walk safely down the streets."
In July 2004, ahead of the British Grand Prix, a number of drivers, including Jenson Button, Nigel Mansell, David Coulthard and Juan Pablo Montoya, took part in an F1 demonstration run through the heart of London's West End.
Livingstone, always a highly controversial figure, was elected mayor in 2000, when the post was first created - previously, London had been governed by the Greater London Council, until it was abolished in 1986 - he was subsequently re-elected in 2004. In 2007 he again stands for re-election.