Boris back: But chastened

Goldhawk Rd: set to change

Boris Johnson has been re-elected after Labour's catastrophic choice of dinosaur Ken Livingstone managed to buck not only a London but a national trend and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Mayor was assisted in his victory by constant backing from the Evening Standard but also in no small part by Ken himself, who managed to stumble from one self made crisis to another.

The Mayor, however, has lost his control of the Assembly and will now have to negotiate with Assembly Members from Labour, Green and LibDem in order to have his budget passed every year. And his margin of victory is so narrow that there have to be question marks about just what kind of mandate he has from Londoners to carry on as he was.

So the Mayor may have to rein in some of his tendencies to ride roughshod over people - and for us in the Bush that might mean he is just a little less likely to back our Council in their apparent determination to press ahead with schemes in the non-Fulham parts of the borough that are patently opposed by the majority of local people.

• King Street in Hammersmith will be immediately resurrected now by our Council as we now know after their own secret papers were leaked.
• West Kensington & Gibbs Green Estate will be marked for destruction.
• Shepherd's Bush Market and the Goldhawk Road shops will be served up for demolition. Subject to a Court challenge next week, anyway.

And where before this election I would have seen Boris approving all of them, I can see him balking at one of them now. Sadly for the Bush I think the one he may balk at is the King Street scheme. I can only see the courts stopping our Council and their colleagues Orion the property developers now from tearing down our heritage on the Goldhawk Road.

Much to think about in the days, weeks and months ahead.

But it's also worth flagging up that we'll be back in the midst of elections in Hammersmith & Fulham itself in a couple of years - and the residents of the luxury flat developments the current Council are intent on building in the North of the borough won't have moved in by then. Nor will many of the unemployed have been moved out.Our Council may look at that and decide to be not quite so beligerent in future.

In the meantime, I'm afraid, stand by for the demolition orders.