The Former Deputy Assistant Commissioner for London’s Metropolitan Police Service—and the UK’s highest ranking openly gay police officer—Brian Paddick has won the Liberal Democrats nomination for the Mayor of London.
On Friday, Paddick, 53, who previously said he wouldn’t run again after coming in third place in his 2008 mayoral bid, won by a narrow margin of 1,526 votes to London Assembly member Mike Tuffrey’s 1,476. In the general election on May 3, he’ll be up against incumbent Conservative Party mayor Boris Johnson and former Labour Party mayor Ken Livingstone.
A dark-horse candidate, Paddick has been an advocate for decriminalizing marijuana and critical of police action in both the recent riots and the voicemail-hacking scandal that shuttered The News of the World. A former contestant on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, he’s been married to his partner, Petter Belsvik, since 2009.
We predict when word gets out Paddick’s been bathing in the blood of virgins to remain so goddamn gorgeous, it’ll torpedo his candidacy. Till then, best of luck, Bri!
Image via Laurence Boyce
