Terence Blacker: Ken's private life may win him votes

The news that Ken Livingstone's next book might be about his "sexual evolution" is causing mild arousal among publishers. "I would like to write about my growing sexual awareness," the former Mayor of London told an interviewer on the publication of his autobiography, You Can't Say That. "Unfortunately," he added, "the press would turn it into something unbelievably squalid and salacious." In spite of this concern (which most publishers would see as a bonus, anyway), the idea is worth pursuing. To judge by the details of his private life which he has teasingly revealed in the new book, Livingstone might have quite a lot to say about sexual evolution.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, while he was an MP, he was quite busy in that area, being – depending upon your point of view – a public-spirited sperm-donor, a generous friend, or a randy b***ard who went to bed with women other than his long-term partner.

Quite a lot of fathering went on during that time. Ken's friend Philippa Need "was very keen to have children, although she had failed to find the right partner"; he volunteered his services, and two children were born in 1990 and 1992. A newer pal, Jan Woolf, had a similar problem, and once again the MP was able to help out. Jan bore a son in 1992.

Although, somewhat ungallantly, Livingstone presents these arrangements as if he was going around doing good work of the selfless Geldofian kind, he has refused to confirm or deny that conception occurred in the traditional manner.

There will be, of course, be the usual silly fuss. The old "Red Ken" tag will be reactivated; uncharitable jokes will be made about his unlikely success with women. More seriously, he will be portrayed as representing in his private life the anti-family agenda of the Left. His activities reflect the morally slack approach to parenthood of "broken Britain", it will be said.

Here is the problem: Livingstone's unconventional way of doing things has worked rather well. In spite of the best efforts of the right-wing press, there is no evidence that his activities have done any harm to those involved.

Soon after his second and third children were born within a few weeks of each other, the MP was taking all his children on outings to the zoo. When, later, he married and had two children within wedlock, the three families took to holidaying together. It is a rather touching scene, Ken, the three women he impregnated, surrounded by their growing, extended family. It may not be the kind of arrangement which would suit everyone, but it seems to have worked rather well for them. In his own quiet way, Livingstone and his friends have shown that family life can be more flexible and grown-up than many would have us believe.

If next year's election for Mayor of London is dominated, as seems highly likely, by the private lives of the two main contenders, we might well have another Mayor Ken in power. This time, we will at least know the reason for that slightly smug little smile.

i@independent.co.uk