Week on the web

It was Boris Johnson's first week as London mayor, Labour's worst week of polling ever and, all in all, a prettybad start for Gordon Brown's newly relaunched government.

There was much excitment at the new mayor's new regime, withConservative home breaking the news of a significant newappointment for Team Boris. Iain Dale also scooped the Evening Standard with the firstinterview with new City Hall communications director GutoHari.

Dale also had news of what Johnson's very first act as mayor was - scrapping the GLA'ssubscriptions to the Morning Star.

Guidoalso provided an unusually thoughtful justification on Sunday forhis long-standing backing of Boris and considered assessment of theinfluence of blogs.

But he was back to his more sardonic usual self by Thursday with a complaint about the incoming ban on booze onpublic transport.

Meanwhile Ken Livingstone (remember him?) was chewing over thelessons for Labour in an article for the Guardian, which didn't appear to rule out himstanding again in 2012. "Labour must return at the head of aprogressive administration and restore London as the number onecapital city in the world... I'll have plenty of time to do somevery welcome gardening - and to participate in that resurgence," hesaid.

But LabourHome was already mulling who the party's next mayoral candidateshould be. The most popular choice appeared to be Sir AlanSugar.

Labour was also licking its wounds nationally after the London andlocal elections, and even worse subsequent opinion pollscores.

Several commentators have noted the growing similarites betweenBrown and John Major. Daniel Finkelstein at Comment Central, who worked in DowningStreet during the dying days of Tory rule, rejects the comparison,claiming it underrates Sir John. But he also provides a fascinatinglist of what Brown can expect if the theory is true.

However LukeAkehurst offers a more optimistic outlook. Labour could be 10points ahead in the polls by October, he suggests.

After being kicked in the polls by London, most of England and allof Wales, the last thing the prime minister needed was Scottish rowas well. But that of course was exactly what he got when WendyAlexander decided to call for an early referendum on independence,although he didn't appear to accept that she had.

Nick Robinson tried to make sense of it all and BenBrogan thought Brown should assert his authority over her,pointing out that he is the leader of the Scottish Labour Party andshe only leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament (payattention at the back).

But Andrew Sparrow thought that was a mis-reading of the politicalrealities and that there was a better way out of this mess thanBrown had managed, as shown by David Cameron.

Speaking of the triumphant Tory chief, on the Spectator's Coffee House site, Fraser Nelson asked readersfor ideas for questions for an interview with Cameron. And not onlywere they put, but Nelson noted that they seem to have informed theConservative leader's thinking.

As for the Liberal Democrats, there was some suggestion, strongly denied, that they might not care thatmuch about the Crewe and Nantwich by-election.

Alix Mortimer meanwhile, had tea with Nick Clegg and solicitedan intriguing assessment from him of Cameron.

Finally, Three Line Whip had the latest on Ed Balls' reading list, andno postneo-classical endogenous growth theory is included.