Greater London Authority Bill

I would not disagree, but we are not just talking about ephemeral timescales. The point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, fits this issue very well. If one simply takes away the personality aspect, which is there—we do not enhance our perceptions of people’s intelligence if we say that it does not play any part—then, as far as I am concerned, the Mayor, and of course the Mayor’s office, staff and structure, would need to think very carefully if he very quickly got into a situation where he always wanted his view ultimately to prevail. That would cause a grave reaction, not just in local government but in national government. If the Mayor always won in a dispute on what was right or wrong for Greater London, whatever the effect on a local borough, that would be a very bad political judgment.