London - It was meant to operate as a model for consensus politics. But yesterday's first meeting of the Greater London Assembly followed the same Westminster lines and descended into party political point-scoring, with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party voting tactically against the Conservatives, writes Rachel Donnelly.
As the new mayor, Mr Ken Livingstone watched from the public auditorium at the Emmanuel Centre as the 25-member assembly elected a chairman, Mr Trevor Phillips, of Labour, and deputy chairman, Ms Sally Hamwee, of the Liberal Democrats.