Paper candidates

Nicky Gavron may not yet be a household name, but she should soon become a familiar face in London. Having beaten Tony Banks to the Labour nomination for the mayoral election in 2004, she will fight a campaign against Ken Livingstone that, we suspect, may lack a little bite. Mr Livingstone, a man who was expelled from the Labour Party, has endorsed her as his "sweetheart" candidate. The opposition will have to come from Steve Norris, the likely Conservative, and the Liberal Democrats' Simon Hughes (if he can make up his mind).

No doubt, as the current Deputy Mayor, Ms Gavron will be featured almost as regularly as the mayor himself in his latest money-wasting scheme: a new bi-monthly newspaper, funded by council taxpayers. The paper will be printed by Northcliffe Press, part of the group that owns the Evening Standard, Mr Livingstone's chief tormentor. How's that for a public-private partnership?