The mood in parliament

Andrew Blick (London, Houses of Parliament): Coming back after recess the mood in Parliament is one of bewilderment. MPs (and their staff) who are retiring had made swift plans for an immediate exit, which they then had to abandon equally quickly. Many in the Parliamentary Labour Party had favoured a May election, but by hinting at an earlier one and then pulling out of it, Gordon Brown has effectively ruled out this option as well. A widely held view seems to be that provided Brown governs well from here on, the episode can be forgotten by voters. Will this outlook prove to be too optimistic? One winner may be the prospective London Mayor, Boris Johnson. While deservedly regarded as a lightweight he probably stands a better chance of beating Ken Livingstone during mid-term than he would have done just after or at the same time as a General Election. Johnson doesn't now have to face the dilemma of whether to give up his parliamentary seat before the London contest. But how would David Cameron feel about Johnson as Mayor? Superficially such a victory might seem welcome for his party. But some believe the mayoral bid, about which Johnson was initially ambivalent, was a convenient way of sidelining a political liability. As Mayor, Johnson would become arguably the most powerful Conservative in the country. The Leader of the Opposition might not relish the emergence of a figure rivaling his own profile, especially one so prone to controversy, and who might not feel as generous to Cameron as he once did.