Livingstone was elected to the Greater London Council (GLC)in 1973 and became Leader of the council in 1981, ousting the existing Labour Party group leader in a 'palace putsch'. As GLC leader he pursued a high-profile campaign of opposition to government policy, so infuriating [[Prime Minister]][[Margaret Thatcher]] that she abolished the GLC and six other metropolitan county councils in 1986. Between 1987 and 2001 Livingstone was MP for the Brent East constituency in north-west London, for most of that period as a Labour MP. He was expelled from the Labour Party in 2000 for standing for the newly-created post of Mayor against an official Labour candidate (the luckless Frank Dobson), but was readmitted in 2004. | Livingstone was elected to the Greater London Council (GLC)in 1973 and became Leader of the council in 1981, ousting the existing Labour Party group leader in a 'palace putsch'. As GLC leader he pursued a high-profile campaign of opposition to government policy, so infuriating [[Prime Minister]][[Margaret Thatcher]] that she abolished the GLC and six other metropolitan county councils in 1986. Between 1987 and 2001 Livingstone was MP for the Brent East constituency in north-west London, for most of that period as a Labour MP. He was expelled from the Labour Party in 2000 for standing for the newly-created post of Mayor against an official Labour candidate (the luckless Frank Dobson), but was readmitted in 2004. |