""More dangerously, the mayoral election was however probably decided by badly biassed press coverage,...""

By which, I take it, you mean that the press had the bad taste to let slip that Red Ken is as unscrupulous, greedy and corrupt in his financial affairs as any "arrogant posh boy"?


""I stll don't get it. the mayor goes and shakes hands with pensioners, meets royalty when they deign to appear, opens fetes, says well done everybody....

thats what mayors do.""

You are right Al! You don't get it!

That is what most mayors do, but the London mayor is different. He has administrative powers similar to those of a company CEO and can make policy decisions which are implemented on his authority.

Just as an aside, it may have (in fact in one case it definitely has ) slipped by unnoticed, but the BBC headquarters are in Manchester and most of their programs come from studios there, so perhaps we will, in the fullness of time have cause to piss and moan about coverage down south.

Don T.