GIVEN the controversy he has found himself in over the past few weeks, Ken Livingstone will have been pleased to discover he was among friends at the Arts Centre this evening.

Appearing at the Swindon Festival of Literature to talk about his latest book, Being Red, he was in typical outspoken form, taking on all-comers from across the political spectrum.

The audience was clearly on his side throughout – a much older crowd than has been typical so far for this festival season, they greeted him with rapturous applause as he arrived and they sent him off with cheers that were even more enthusiastic still.

During his initial 30 minute talk, the issue of his suspension from the Labour party or the comments that led to it went unmentioned – in fact apart from a single question in the Q and A, the events of the last few weeks may well not have happened.

Hot on the heels of the latest London mayoral election, a post he held for two terms from 2000 to 2008, one might have expected a prominent spot in his remarks for the new man in that role, Sadiq Khan.

The first reference to Khan didn’t come until about the 25 minute mark of a 30 minute talk – Boris, however, was mentioned so many times it would have been easy to lose count.

It is clear that Livingstone has never quite got over losing to the flamboyant Etonian in 2008 – the phrase “when I lost to Boris” was ever-present throughout the evening.

He covered a range of issues, from jobs to austerity to housing and climate change – Cameron and Osborne came under fire, Blair and Brown didn’t come away unscathed either.

Observing the challenges - economic and social - that young people face today compared to in his own youth, he said: “It’s a damning indictment of modern politics that the generation of politicians who were given free healthcare and free education, good job opportunities, are leaving such a damaged society for the children and grandchildren coming behind them.”

Indeed the only politician who escaped the wrath of Livingstone in full flow was, perhaps unsurprisingly, Jeremy Corbyn.

Talking about his close political ally of so many years, he said: “Jeremy is probably the last chance my kids have got to have a better Britain.”

The best way to sum up the evening – Ken was Ken.

Unapologetic, dogmatic, steadfast and left wing – and judging by their reaction, the Festival of Literature audience loved him all the more for it.