Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today (18 January) chosen a community interest company to run the city’s pride festival for the next five years.

But the decision has come so late that organizers now only have 115 days to put together a festival which usually takes a year to organize.

It comes after the previous organization running pride collapsed following 2012’s event. London had been hosting World Pride but it had to be drastically scaled back at the last minute due to a funding crisis.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today (24 October) said he wants people to bid to run LGBT pride in the British capital.

It confirms a report by Gay Star News on 6 September, which City Hall officials refused to confirm.

Johnson’s team will review bids from non-profit, community-based organizations to run and develop pride in the capital over the next five years from 2013.

Gay Star News can reveal the majority of the trustees of Pride London are to quit and the caretaker boss of the event wants to hand over to new blood.

A public meeting on Wednesday evening (25 July) will therefore be crucial to deciding the future of the event with several groups expected to put forward alternative visions for the British capital’s pride celebration.

London hosted World Pride on 7 July but the event was dogged by controversy. It had to be scaled back at the last minute with a street party cancelled and floats taken out of the parade.

Gay Star News is chairing a debate at Heaven on Wednesday 25 July at 5.30pm on how to create a world class LGBT pride in London.

The meeting will be open to the public and bring together London’s LGBT businesses and community with leading gay organizations, stakeholders of all kinds and sponsors.

It comes after controversy rocked this year’s event held on Saturday (7 July). London was hosting World Pride but it was scaled back at the last minute with a rally cut short, floats taken out of the parade and an official street party in Soho cancelled.

Gay celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has been tweeting his praise of London for its partying spirit during World Pride.

‘The Brits know how to have a fucking good time!!! #Legends,’ the 34-year-old tweeted over the weekend.

‘#London is the best city in the world!!!!,’ he continued. ‘I LOVE the British people! Like sunshine after the rain!’

World Pride has caused much controversy in London. But one thing was clear today – LGBT people still care passionately about the rights of their brothers and sisters around the globe.

And so they marched – from children clinging to their parents’ hands to veterans who have been taking part in gay prides in the British capital for 40 years.

The timing of the World Pride parade was deliberately brought forward by London’s City Hall to reduce the number of people attending.

Gay Star News has seen evidence that the start time of the march through central London was brought forward from 1pm to 11am specifically to discourage the crowds.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has already faced criticism for not stepping in to save the event tomorrow (7 July) which had to be scaled down at short notice last week due to a cash crisis.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared via video on Thursday (5 May) to accept the World LGBT Award at the World Pride gala dinner at the Langham Hotel in London.

'I want especially to acknowledge all the people who are working hard to advance human rights in their own communities and countries... making a difference everyday, often at great cost to themselves,' Clinton said.

Clinton received the award from Pride London and the Kaleidoscope trust for her work in supporting gay rights worldwide.

Dr Patrick Williams, chair of Pride London has stood down, after calls for the whole board to resign over this year’s event.

London has had to scale back its World Pride celebrations on 7 July due to a cash crisis.

The event had been projected to bring in over a million people for the biggest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender event the British capital had ever seen.

If there has to be anything that will characterize this summer’s 2012 London Olympics, apart of course from the Mayor of London’s decision to reduce the planned Opening Ceremony to David Beckham, Seb Coe and a couple of sparklers, it is the decidedly corporate nature of the event – the Olympic Flame carried reverently from the Temple of Hera hardly visible as it travels around the country behind the sponsors’ buses and PA systems.

Pride London bosses have told marchers joining World Pride’s procession through the streets of the British capital that, while they aren’t allowed cars, busses, or floats, they can use shopping trolleys.

Bikes, roller skates and non-motorized scooters are also permitted.

Just last week event bosses had to scale back the parade on 7 July, banning floats, cars and busses after a cash-flow crisis left them unable to afford full safety and crowd-control measures.

Jeremy Joseph, the boss of legendary UK club G-A-Y, is calling for the resignation of the Pride London committee.

Joseph, along with KU bar’s Gary Henshaw, are petitioning for the Pride London committee to accept responsibility and resign after it was reported they failed to organize World Pride celebrations properly.

Gay Star News revealed on 28 May that Pride London bosses axed the cars and floats from the parade.