Instead of which, Frank Dobson, an amiable relic from the second division of the cabinet, is the last best hope of London's rescue from the soiled and grasping hands of Jeffrey Archer. Mr Dobson is plainly uneasy in the role. He protests too loudly that it is his life's ambition to be the leader of the city and not the minister of health. He seems nervous when trying to expound a set of policies that mostly mimic the government's, whether on transport or crime or housing, though he's notably less afraid than Mr Blair of talking about inequality. This, too, is mainly a product of the culture.
British ministers have no experience of being separate leaders.
They are trained as collective followers, not distinctive visionaries. When Dobson speaks, even in friendly environments, you hear a brain struggling to find language that sets him apart from the subordinate world where he has spent a political lifetime. It was the same with the first ministers of Scotland and Wales, who are taking time to break out of the departmental habit of mind. If Dobson becomes mayor of London, the post will remain, as it is empowered to be, more collaborative than contentious with the government. The start and not the finish of a new politics.