London mayoral election: independent Siobhan Benita launches campaign

Amid the egos and point-scoring by Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone at the first hustings of the London mayoral election campaign it is easy to forget that there are nine other prospective candidates in the London mayoral race. Siobhan Benita quit her job as a high-ranking civil servant in the Department of Health to stand for the mayoralty. One of five independent prospective candidates, she launched her campaign at a reception at Ernst & Young's palatial headquarters in London Bridge on Tuesday night. On hand to offer support at her launch was former cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell, who worked with Benita during her time in the Cabinet Office. Describing her as "someone who is very intelligent and has very strong views", O'Donnell said: "I think it's really important that we give Londoners a broader choice than just people who are funded and backed by party politics. Now she's left the civil service, she's allowed to be passionate about what she believes in and I think today she proved that she can do that. I think she will add an interesting dimension to the race." Benita's professional, polished pitch helps to explain why she's won the celebrity backing of Dragons Den star Peter Jones on Twitter. A resident of leafy New Malden, where she lives with her husband and two daughters, the positive tone of her campaign is captured in her slogan: "Making London Even Better!" Born and raised in Merton, Benita uses the story of her grandmother's migration to London from India to evoke a capital that is multicultural and cosmopolitan, and says her aim is to create a "more creative, more inclusive, more forward-looking London". She is clearly relishing her "liberation" from the shackles of civil service neutrality. She says she decided to run because of a need for "more independent voices. I don't think Ken or Boris represent the London that I know and love." Although the whole campaign has a suburban civility to it, Benita is at pains to emphasise that this is not a soft-centred campaign and she is no pushover. Reluctant to criticise her rivals, she stresses that both Ken and Boris have both done good things as mayor, but will say that the official Labour and Conservative candidates are macho and represent arms-race politics: "One says something, and the other has to come out with something even bigger." Having studied English and German at University of Warwick, Benita began a Whitehall career, ranging from the Treasury to the Cabinet Office, which has clearly given her an insider's perspective on the "dysfunction" of the party political machine. She says her selling point is simple: "I understand who you need to bring together to get things done." Her transport policy includes a promise to freeze fares on London transport until April 2014, as well as free travel to all Londoners actively seeking work and reduced fares for students and those on the minimum wage. She is also proposing the creation of a fully-fledged zone 1-4 commuter service on the River Thames and remains an advocate of an extended tube service and a 24-hour suburban rail network. Her plans for London's public spaces include hit squads in each borough to restore derelict buildings and, not afraid of more radical measures, she is calling for English Heritage to lift the listed restrictions on the demolition of Battersea Power Station so that the 38-acre site can be redeveloped. Passionate about community cohesion and inspired by visits to domestic violence charities, Benita is proposing safe havens in every borough for people of any age, male or female, who are under threat of abuse or violence. Most strikingly, Benita is also backing the creation of a youth mayor in each borough, who would sit as part of a youth assembly and hold City Hall to account. Passionate about the idea, she has also pledged to pay for a young mayor out of her own salary. Benita is hoping to spring a surprise, but remains aware that the odds are loaded against her: "What the broadcasters say is if you have no political history, they can't rate you and tell you how much coverage to give you. But if you're a new voice, how are you going to get that? The process of collecting the signatures, and the funding, it all works against independents."