London: Mayor & More

Boris Johnson & The Ass Factor

It'll be light posting today because a genius of my acquaintance is sitting at my desk doing clever things to my Hackney blog and patiently explaining to me - a dunce - how they work. Luckily I filed my latest for the Guardian before breakfast. It's here. And for confirmation that Boris needs to rev up grassroots Tory support see this for what James Morrison of the London Policy Institute says.

Standard Columnist Biffs Boris, Shock!

Interesting! Boris Cohen may yet turn out to be misnamed!

Where's Boris Been?

To the Dorchester, apparently.

Gordon, Ken & PMQs

Just listening to Prime Ministers Questions. For the second week in succession the PM did not refer to Ken Livingstone directly when responding to a question about London. Last week he endorsed "a Labour mayor" but didn't mention the present Labour mayor by name. Today, in response to a question about policing from Labour MP Andrew Dismore, he endorsed the present "administration" in London. Keeping his distance, wouldn't say? Mind you, they've never really got on.

That YouGov Poll, Etcetera

Mick Fealty notes that last week's YouGov poll showing Livingstone increasing his lead over Johnson was based on a very small sample and should therefore be treated with caution. Fair point. Mick directs us to UK Polling Report where Anthony Wells provides a fuller analysis. This reveals that in terms of share of the vote "Others" made the largest gain compared with the last poll and that Brian Paddick's share also rose slightly - by one percent. It also shows that Livingstone's share fell by one percent, something Boris Gilligan drew our attention to on Monday:

"For all Ken's crowing about his increased lead in last week's opinion poll, it showed the more important measure, his vote share, falling slightly."

What Boris Gilligan didn't mention was that Boris Johnson's share fell by even more - by four percent. What a curious oversight. Anthony also explains that the Livingstone camp's claim that "internet polling has always underestimated Ken's support compared with actual elections and other opinion polls," is wrong where "actual elections" are concerned. Where ever would we be without psephology?

Ross Lydall Rubbishes Livingstone Shock

Boris Lydall's response to the Mayor of London/TfL campaign to encourage more considerate behaviour on buses is rather unenthusiastic, surprise surprise.

Paddick's Black Cabs Policy

From the BBC:

"The Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick has put London's "hallmark" black cabs at the centre of his transport policies. In a ten-point plan revealed on Tuesday he pledged to give licensed black cab drivers a seat on the board of Transport for London (TfL)."

Now read on here and also here.

Commenting At The Standard

I attempted to post the following comment under Boris Gilligan's recent opinion piece on why "wily" Ken is still outwitting his rivals.

"You sound a bit worried, Andrew. I'm not surprised. Not only is Boris failing to make up ground, it doesn't look as though he's going to. I wonder why that is. Could it partly be that many Londoners are reacting against the Standard's rather obsessive attacks on Livingstone and rallying round him accordingly? You never know, a bit more balanced coverage of the campaign might be more helpful to you in getting Boris elected. Food for thought?"

It hasn't appeared. Neither has any other comment, so perhaps there is some technical fault. I'm sure I can't imagine any other explanation.

For The Guardian

I attended my first London mayor press conference this morning. Here's what I've filed to The Guardian

The War On Ken, obsessive-compulsive pursuit of the London Evening Standard and others, may not be going quite as planned. The three pages the capital’s Tory tabloid devotes almost daily to fouling the name of London’s Labour mayor have yet to have the desired effect. Neither, it seems, have the efforts of New Statesman political editor Martin Bright whose Dispatches programme too strove to show that Ken Livingstone runs an iffy regime. It was, you see, after the Dispatches show went out that a YouGov online poll showed that Livingstone had extended his lead over Conservative rival Boris Johnson by three points to four.

Where's Boris Been?

In London - which is nice - talking to sixth-formers about knife crime. Michael White was there too;

"What I think worked for Boris is that he did not patronise his audience, something easily done by middle-aged people addressing cool teenagers. ''You don't know who I am, I'm Boris Johnson, I am campaigning to be mayor of London, '' was his opening gambit. He then made a Bush joke. 'May I remind you of the words of the great American thinker and educationalist, George W Bush, who asked ''is our children learning?"' It bombed, though he warmed up."

Now read on.