[it's boris] now the hard work begins

Well that's a relief. Now comes the sober reflection. I'm sure many others are issuing words of warning so why should I be any different?

But historically, poor results for the ruling party in local British elections are not necessarily harbingers of poor results in subsequent general elections.

“We’ve been here before,” said Patrick Dunleavy, a professor of political science and public policy at the London School of Economics.

“It’s a bad time for the government, but not nearly so bad that the government couldn’t recover, even as early as spring 2009.”

And as for the Boris result being applicable to Brown:

In London, Mr. Livingstone was seen as an authoritarian figure who had become increasingly isolated and prickly. His efforts to write off Mr. Johnson as a lightweight buffoon failed to pay off, and by the time he began attacking his opponent on the substance of issues like the cost of the Tories’ transportation program, it was too late.

FIRST PREFERENCE VOTES

Boris Johnson (Tory): 1,043,761

Ken Livingstone (Lab): 893,877

Brian Paddick (Lib Dem): 236,685

Sian Berry, (Green): 77,374

Richard Barnbrook (BNP): 69,710

Alan Craig, (Christian Choice): 39,249

Lindsey German (Left List): 16,796

Matt O'Connor, (Eng Democrats): 10,695

Winston McKenzie (Ind): 5,389

I thought the acceptance and concession speeches were gracious.