Siobhan Benita: Boris’ secret weapon

With anti-politics on the rise, there’s one candidate in the May elections who is out to capitalise on the mood. Siobhan Benita, the independent running for London Mayor, has been making increasingly remarkable waves in the run up to 3rd May. She is a technocrat, priding herself on the absence of political views, but adds colour to the race — according to our wine correspondent, Simon Hoggart — whose other employer, the Guardian, has a soft spot for her:

‘Finally she arrived and, while I won’t say that the media swooned, she certainly had an impact. Tall, glossy-haired, elegant in a pencil dress with scarlet jacket, and a diamond wedding ring that would make an American rapper envious, she’d stand out in any room.’

She’s also been hailed by the Times (£) today as a credible alternative to the mainstream waffle. But as Leo McKinstry writes in this week’s Spectator, nothing could be further from the truth. Leo writes she is the ‘least independent’ of all the candidates, noting her high profile backers such as Lord Gus O’Donnell:

‘Never in the field of electoral conflict has so much praise been lavished by so many on such a pointless candidate. Benita has never held elected office, nor has she ever run a major organisation or enterprise. She seems to have spent most of her time working for O’Donnell dreaming up new diversity projects or producing politically correct propaganda.’

And it’s not just the technocrats who have been lauding support on her. Michael Portillo (a known detractor of Boris since 2004) has come out in support of Team Benita, as well as rumblings from Blairite MPs. But with recent polling placing her on just 0.5 per cent of first preference votes, she stands no chance. But she may split the overall Labour vote. If the race begans closer as polling day nears, it may well be Benita wot won it for Boris.

UPDATE: In response to a few comments…the London elections are held under the Supplementary Vote system which eliminates the ‘split vote’ phenomenon — in theory. But last time, almost a quarter of voters refused to make a second preference. In an SV system, everyone knows that putting a minority candidate first and a major candidate second is as good as a vote for the major candidate. There are several committed Labour members who think “not Ken again” and won’t put him second. Benita gives the Not Ken Again (Labour division) a very respectable option. She will, I stress, only be a factor if the race is tight, right till the end. But if Boris had a magic wand, I doubt he’d wish her away.