Gloating Over.

Now that Ken Livingstone is off to spend more time with his family families, it's time for the gloating to cease. So these are my serious points about the local elections:

• The GLA elections held under a form of proportional representation demonstrate something that the Liberal Democrats haven't realised in their advocacy of PR. Third parties don't suddenly become major forces to compare with the big two, what happens is that you end up with one main party of the centre right, one of the centre left and lots of small parties as the protest vote is split.
• It's a shame that local elections are tied so closely to national politics, even though watching Labour take a kicking is enjoyable. This is partly because local authorities have little power compared to central government. It is also because the parties are national entities that don't allow them to adjust to suit local concerns.
• George Galloway's electoral humiliation is great news, it's a shame that it had to happen on the same day as Livingstone's ousting really. I now know what children who have their birthdays on Christmas day feel like.
• Regardless of one's feelings about London's mayoralty, the introduction of mayors elsewhere has been pretty successful, even when it is a bloke in a monkey suit, and should probably be extended.
• Labour really should ditch Brown.