Ken livingstone as i was saying before

Strong terms are used to describe "Red Ken" Livingstone. Figurehead. Thorn in the side. In the words of a High Court judge, maker of "unnecessarily offensive" and "indefensible" remarks.

Trailblazer, newt-lover, antisemite - a description he always rejected. The Sun newspaper once described him as "the most odious man in Britain".

Ken Livingstone always divides opinion.

Now, with the announcement of his Alzheimer's disease, the 78-year-old's political career has definitively ended.

BBC News takes a look at some of the more memorable points of his public (and private) life.

He became the first directly elected mayor of London, although his appointment wasn't without complication. A Labour Party politician, he was not picked by Tony Blair to be its selected candidate. Mr Livingstone declared he would stand as an Independe Ken livingstone anti semitism!