Gordon must keep away from Ken if he’s to have a chance against Boris

The low approval rating for Gordon Brown in a new Populus poll for the Times - 4.5 out of 10 is the lowest since Brown came to Number 10 - means, among other things, that the PM has to keep his distance from Labour's campaign in the London mayoral election. A quick speech and a handshake with Ken Livingstone in Canary Wharf a week or so ago was quite enough, thank you very much. Livingstone has enough problems with his Tory rival Boris Johnson without Gordon putting a dampener on things.

'Keep Gordon away' was one of the key pieces of advice to come up when politicalhome.com asked its cross-party panel of political brains - including former Cabinet ministers, strategists and senior journalists - how they rated the chances of the three main candidates for the mayoralty. Sixty-nine per cent of them believed Johnson has the best chance on May 1, while only 30 per cent backed Ken. (The Lib-Dems' Brian Paddick barely registered.) But they had plenty of advice on how the Labour incumbent can catch up in the three weeks remaining.

The Phi100 panel includes Charles Clarke, Ed Vaizey, Ben Brogan, Polly Toynbee, Matthew d’Ancona and Julia Hobsbawm. Asked what would help Ken beat Boris, they replied in this order:

First, he should focus on presenting himself as the competent CEO who has got things done and abandon his cheeky chappy image. (Livingstone’s sober 'I'm in charge' political broadcast, which aired on Monday, might have been made with this in mind.)

Second, he should portray Boris Johnson as an unserious clown and a fake, not as a right-winger with unpleasant views. (Given the number of journalists on the panel, this doesn't say much for their loyalty to an old Daily Telegraph/Spectator colleague.)

Third, he should offer key jobs to both Paddick and the Green candidate, Sian Berry, before election day. And fourth, the best way for Brown and Labour to help Ken is to stay away from the campaign.

Tessa Jowell, who as Minister for London is overseeing the election campaign, apparently has a further piece of advice of her own, according to sources close to her team. She wants Livingstone to be far more aggressive in his handling of the Boris phenomenon. The gloves are off - but does Ken know it?

THE MOLE: LONDON ELECTION

FIRST POSTED APRIL 8, 2008