Former London mayor Ken Livingstone has Alzheimer’s disease and is retired from public life, say family
Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, his family has announced.
A statement on behalf of his family said: “In response to media enquiries the Livingstone family today announce that Ken Livingstone, ex-MP for Brent and former mayor of London, has been diagnosed with and is living with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Although a previously prominent public figure, Ken is now retired and lives a private life.
“He will no longer be available for any media interviews or requests and we will not be responding to any media questions or enquiries.
“Ken is being well cared for by his family and friends and we ask you for your understanding and to respect his privacy and that of his family.”
Mr Livingstone, 78, was a prominent figure in London politics for more than four decades, proving a thorn in the sides of both Margaret Thatcher’s Tories and New Labour under Sir Tony Blair with his uncompromising left-wing views.
He headed up the Greater London Council before its abolition by Mrs Thatcher in 1986, before a 14-year spell as MP for Brent East.
When Sir Tony created the new role of mayor of London in 2000, Mr Livingstone ran as an independent challenging Labour from the left – with his victory humiliating Blairite Cabinet minister Frank Dobson, who had beaten him to the Labour nomination.
In his second term, which he won as the official Labour candidate, Mr Livingstone earned praise for the way he stood up for London after the July 2005 suicide bombings and helped win the 2012 Olympic Games for the capital.
Mr Livingstone lost City Hall in 2008 when he was defeated by an equally colourful opponent in Boris Johnson and a failed bid to return to office in 2012 marked the end of his electoral ambitions.
He was a passionate and early supporter of Jeremy Corbyn‘s Labour leadership, demanding purges of MPs he deemed disloyal to Mr Corbyn – but became embroiled in a string of allegations of antisemitism, over which he quit the Labour Party in 2018.
It came after a long-running row over his claims that Adolf Hitler had backed Zionism in the 1930s, which had originally seen him suspended from the party in 2016.
The ex-Brent East MP was singled out in a human rights watchdog report in 2020 into how Labour dealt with antisemitism claims, which said Jewish Labour Party members felt he had made comments that “had the effect of stirring up and fuelling hatred for Jews”.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Mr Livingstone withdrew a legal challenge to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report.
