Ken 'to spend £1m to win re-election'

Ken Livingstone plans to spend public money on an elite new tier of advisers and spin doctors on salaries of up to £100,000 a year as part of his attempts to get re-elected.

The Mayor intends to create a new inner court of half a dozen staff, directly answerable to him, who will help him "deliver" on his key policies over the next two years.

Each will get the status of "executive director" within the Mayor's office, which means they may expect salaries of between £80,000 and £100,000. With additional back-up staff, it means the total cost to the taxpayer may be anything up to £1 million.

The move by the Mayor comes despite previous pledges that he would keep staffing costs to a minimum in his office and avoid creating a "top-heavy" administration.

It has caused fury among members of the London Assembly, who today claimed he was simply centralising power into a "Kenocracy" as an attempt to boost his own electoral prospects.

Members of the assembly's appointments committee, which must approve all appointments by the Mayor, are now to hold an emergency meeting to consider whether to challenge the move.

Eric Ollerenshaw, deputy of the assembly's Tory group, said: "This is a sign that Ken is running scared. He hasn't achieved much so far, so he is now now using the public purse to bring in professional spin doctors and advisers, which can only be because he is worried his policies aren't working.

"It is a whole new layer of management that will cost vast amounts, and will be there largely for his own electoral benefit."

The planned new "Policy Integration and Service Delivery Unit" will be composed of directors dealing with economic and business policy, housing and social exclusion, equalitiesintegration, environmental services, media relations, and internal staffing.

While all the posts would have to be advertised externally, it is thought that several are likely to go to existing staff currently employed on much lower salaries as personal advisers.

His race adviser Lee Jasper, for example, is likely to be prime candidate for the equalities post, while housing adviser Neale Coleman could be chosen for the housing and social exclusion post.

"I think we will see him get rid of some but keep on others whom he is keen on," said Mr Ollerenshaw. "But these will be personal appointments by the Mayor, and they will feel personally responsible for getting him reelected."

A spokeswoman for the Mayor's office said that under the terms of the legislation that created the mayoral office, Mr Livingstone was actually entitled to have 12 such posts, but had so far declined to take up the option. "Now that he is some way into his mayoral term, he wants to reorganise his structure to deliver."

She added that, although they were not prepared to say how much the jobs paid, they considered some reports of salaries to be exaggerated.