The Talking Point

Posted by Laura Snook, Editor, MSN UK News

Noon

"How long have you got?" That was the first volley fired at Gordon Brown in this morning's Prime Minister's Questions, a reference by the opposition to just how much longer our poor PM can survive in today's Labour-hostile political climate. It's the first PMQs since last week's disastrous performance by Labour in the local polls, so could prove colourful. Boris nods politely as Brown welcomes the new mayor of London to the house. His hair still looks very restrained...

Cameron's quick to reaffirm the capital's new mayor is a Conservative.

12:09pm

Here's an old foe: post office closures. The prime minister isn't listening to the electorate, says Cameron - a dig at Brown's pledge last week to be a prime minister who "listens and leads."

"Slick salesmanship with no substance" - that's Brown's indictment of the opposition. But did Brown appear on American Idol wearing more make-up than Barbara Streisand? David seems to think so, suggesting Brown spends his day waiting for Shakira to call. "Why don't you give up the PR and start being PM?" asks the Tory leader. Tou - and indeed - che.

Nick Clegg, poster boy for the moderate voice, has restored order - but not for long. The abolition of the 10p tax rate was a matter of principle: "Do you remember those?" he quips at Brown.

12:14pm

Time for the tough guy: the government will tackle violent crime head-on, says Brown. But what about terror suspects? Brown wants to be able to hold terror suspects for longer than 28 days, in the interests of "citizen safety."

12:20pm

The collapse of Britain's economy will be Priority Number One in the next few weeks, says Brown: from the housing market to financial institutions.

12:22pm

All in all, a disappointingly civilised PMQs, especially considering the events of the May 1 elections. Brown won't have enjoyed the fact that the Tories got most of the laughs, though. The predictable polity of division, with all the yah-booing you'd expect, but little in the way of genuinely scalp-tearing political pigtail-pulling. Next time...

Posted at 2:30pm by Laura Snook, Editor, MSN UK News 

For the first time in a stifling few decades, since the departure of Richard Nixon in fact, politics just got interesting: Boris Johnson (Bozzer to the tabloids) is officially the new mayor of London, one of the most strategically important capital cities in the world.

Fighting his way like a professional prop through the media scrum outside City Hall this afternoon, The Blond One swung through the same doors Ken Livingstone - ousted after eight years - had slunk through a few hours earlier, greeting reporters with a glum: "I've just come in to pack my desk and go." Ken, the biggest casualty of Labour's pulverising at the local polls, is all but history.

After signing the declaration of office, the man dismissed by the Labour party as nothing but a clown, a hapless buffoon, made his way to the podium - and promptly tripped on the stairs: "I hope you didn't catch that," he quipped, merrily. "A last-minute booby trap..." Gone was the central government sanitised Boris 2.0 - the slick-haired, well-mannered impostor wheeled out by his party's militant/anally retentive (delete as applicable) campaign managers. BoJo is back... but for how long?

Mayor Boris doesn't officially assume the post until midnight on Sunday and, as he observed to the packed room in his first speech as mayor-in-waiting, "until that time, I imagine there are shredding machines that will be quietly puffing and panting away in the building... and quite rightly, too. Heaven knows what we'll uncover in the next few days."

From pranks to policies: waving an arm in the direction of the Thames - or at least, what he initially thought was the direction of the Thames ("Where's the river? I can't find it!") - Boris reiterated the intentions laid out in his manifesto, "which I'm sure you've all committed to heart": to improve transport across the city, including buses and river taxis; to build at least 50,000 affordable homes; to protect Londoners' back gardens from opportunistic developers; and to "drive out minor crime and disorder as a way to drive out more serious crime" (another teenager died in the city last night as the result of a knife attack).

London's incoming mayor also paid tribute to the city's outgoing mayor, describing Ken as "a man of considerable talents" whose achievements Boris intends to build on. A key element of his leadership will, he says, be to create cross-community cohesion: "It is vital to unite London and serve every community impartially." The sharing of ideas is also pivotal, he insisted, adding that he was open to anyone's ideas: "We don't want any dog in the manger-ish behaviour... and if we do find any dogs in the manger, we will have them humanely euthanased," he quipped, to unanimous guffaws. Punchline: there's no room for "personal rancour... (pronounced correctly)." More applause.

The capital may have its fair share of issues, but dull moments aren't likely to be one of them. Whether you live in London or elsewhere, Watch This Space. Will Boris be good for the City? Join the debate here and on our message boards.

Boris wins mayor of London battle: special report

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Posted by Laura Snook, Editor, MSN UK News

22:30pm: Has anyone else noticed Boris' freshly tamed haircut? Anyone who doubts Tory HQ's ability to keep BoJo on a short leash should check out his unprecedentedly disciplined hairstyle: if they can tame the mop, they can tame the man.

             Before                              After

22pm: It's now just after ten and the Boris-Ken ding-dong still hasn't reached a conclusion. Could be as late as midnight, apparently. Coffee, anyone?

6:20pm: We're still waiting for the next mayor of London to be declared, but one bookmaker has already paid out on it being Boris on the back of Labour's appalling performance. Quote of the day goes to Paddy Power, a spokesman for which said: "After the kick in the ballots that Labour has had overnight, we expect Boris to put the final nail in their local elections coffin." <groan>

4pm: Here's how it's looking so far: the Tories have gained control of 12 councils; Labour has lost eight (but won Slough, in the south east, from no overall control - which means they still have a toe-hold on Conservative territory, despite losing Reading); the Lib Dems have gained one... and I just missed Plaid Cymru's result. Apologies, Wales - will make up for it later. 

3:10pm: You can smell the fear in Downing Street from here, which happens to be several miles away: word in the corridors of power is that BoJo/Bozzer/Boris/that Old Etonian buffoon (delete as per your political preference) is on the cusp of ousting Ken. Being KO'd by a gaffe-prone fop, as entertaining as he is, won't go down well in Whitehall...

3pm: Nick "I've slept with no more than 30 women" Clegg, the fresh-faced Lib Dem leader, is bristling like a cactus at suggestions his party is gaining seats purely because of Labour's apparent downfall. "It's not because Labour is doing badly, it's because we're doing extremely well." So there.

2:20pm: Disaster! Reading, Labour's last-remaining stronghold in otherwise Conservative south-east, has fallen to no overall control - a major blow for the party, albeit an accurately predicted one. A less accurately predicted result may be that of the London mayoral elections: previously written off by the pundits as too close to call, it now seems Boris all but has it in the bag - or does he? We should find out at around 6pm.

Mapped: election results as they come in

1.30pm: posted by News Editor Laura Snook

Not since the Spitting Image puppet of former prime minister John Major has a politician's complexion been quite so ashen. Gordon Brown, who finally wrestled control from Tony Blair after a prolonged tug-of-love last year, is being pulverised at the polls in his first major electoral test. Nobody said Labour would have a good night, but even the most hardcore party pessimists couldn't have braced themselves for this. The prime minister didn't even "bother to stay up last night to watch the results," so sayeth the BBC. It's a wonder he found the will to crawl out from under the ministerial covers this morning: not since the 1960s has Labour taken such a snooker-ball-in-a-sock beating.

"It's been a bad night," Brown told the elite press corps on the steps of number 10 earlier today, lip noticeably twitching in a sort of half sneer, half facial spasm. No matter whose box you ticked yesterday, you couldn't help but feel for him: the first 10 or so months of his premiership have been flawed to the point of farce. "Has anyone seen my personal data discs? Northern Rock has done WHAT?! What do you mean I can't afford a mortgage - I'm a gazillionaire!"

With Labour councils falling into enemy hands right, left and centre, it's going to be a long day for the analysts. And let's not forget the London mayoral elections, the outcome of which - expected sometime this evening - could well push our beleaguered Brown over the edge. If Ken gets beaten by what Labour calls "an effete Old Etonian buffoon" (yes, Boris Johnson), expect tears and tantrums. There was a telling moment earlier when a journalist asked whether, in response to the disastrous events of last night, the prime minister would consider changing his policies (scrapping the 10p tax rate is being widely blamed for the voter backlash on Labour's traditional turf). Brown's reply: "My job is to listen and to lead." That'll be a no, then...

Stay tuned: I'll be bringing you live updates all day as the extent to which we, the people, have redrawn Britain's political map becomes clear. If there's anything in particular you'd like to know about what's happening and what it all means, feel free to leave a comment.

Elections 2008: total coverage from MSN UK News

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A teenage Polish fireman accused of going on an arson spree to notch up enough overtime to buy his girlfriend a present is facing ten years in jail.

Pawol Leszek, 18, allegedly set fire to a barn in Studzianki and then went to the local fire station where he earned £2 an hour as a voluntary fire fighter.

Police say he then torched two other barns over the next week in a bid to get even more cash, but was caught out when a local saw him setting fire to another barn.

Leszek has been charged with arson and endangering public safety.

A police spokesman said: "He said he just wanted to get money to buy his girlfriend a birthday present."

Fancy meeting you here

A German man survived a 25ft plunge down a lift-shaft because a women, who had fallen down it a day before, broke his fall. 

Jens Wilhelms, 27, was unhurt after landing on the 57-year-old woman and managed to free himself from the shaft at the apartment block in Frankfurt where he lived.

He called out rescue services who took the woman to hospital. Doctors said she is in a critical condition after sustaining injuries in her original fall - and then again when Wilhelms landed on her.

Police spokesman Manfred Vonhausen said: "The woman had been lying unconscious in the shaft for some time already.

"Although it made her injuries worse it also probably saved her life that he fell on her as it meant he knew she was there and managed to get help."

Rescue workers said that without Wilhelm's plunge the woman would have died from internal bleeding.

Masseuses told to padlock their pants

At least one parlour in the tourist town of Batu on Java island has required its masseuses to padlock their skirts or trousers to make it clear that the establishment does not tolerate prostitution, it was reported.

Others in the town started following suit after local officials suggested it was a good idea at a recent meeting with parlour owners.

Several masseuses have been seen with small padlocks in the zip of their pants or skirts in recent days.

Imam Suryono, the head of the town's public order authority, said: "The padlocking phenomena has been seen at various parlours and it is something we like."

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