Tom Griffin (London, OK): Ken Livingstone's defeat by Boris Johnson last year was an early sign of what looks like being a tough electoral cycle for Labour. So tomorrow's Progressive London conference at Congress House may also be an early indicator of the potential for renewal on the left.
One hopeful sign is the emergence of a strong crop of left-of-centre bloggers focused on London politics. Martin Hoscik of MayorWatch, Adam Bienkov of ToryTroll and Tom Barry of Boriswatch are among those speaking in a session on new media at the event.
Over at Comment is Free, another London blogger, Dave Hill, offers a sober assessment of what Progressive London has to achieve:
Already mocked as a barely covert campaign to re-elect Ken Livingstone on the basis of his 2008 programme, those running Progressive London need to show that it intends amounting to a great deal more. Whether it is Livingstone who carries its banner in 2012 or somebody else, it needs to show that it has learned the lessons of defeat as well as taking heart from its relative narrowness.
Part of that means recognising some of the smart things Johnson has done, both in his campaign last year and since coming to power. His plans to starve the roots of youth crime may yet disappoint, but at least he will have made an effort. His environmentalism might seem parochial and unambitious, but maybe that puts it on a more local, human scale. And in some ways he's already fighting the next election.
