There was more than a little informality in the air at Romney House, the temporary headquarters of the new Greater London Assembly, yesterday for the small task of signing official declarations of office to get in the way.
The new mayor, Mr Ken Livingstone, slipped into the small conference room for the official ceremony and made a point of hugging and shaking hands with the nine members of the 25-member assembly who had turned up to sign their forms.
The assembly members have two months to sign their official declarations of office, and more than half of the assembly were unable to make it because of other commitments.
But Mr Frank Dobson's running mate, Mr Trevor Phillips, was there, smiling broadly in his snazzy dark suit and green shirt. Of course, Mr Dobson was nowhere to be seen. But that didn't seem to bother Mr Phillips as he hugged Ms Valerie Shawcross, the Labour member for Lambeth and Southwark, and invited journalists to sit down next to him for a chat.
The Green Party assembly member, Mr Darren Johnson, seemed bemused by the whole situation. He stood by his chair, a little red-faced, looking at the photographers and journalists looking back at him.
By contrast, Mr Livingstone sat relaxed in his seat as he tried to read the morning's press cuttings.
Perhaps his mind was on other things, such as whether the Labour member, Ms Nicky Gavron, would take up his offer of the deputy mayor position or, indeed, whether the Labour Party in the assembly would work with him at all.
Ms Gavron says she will decide today.
The assembly members were still chatting when the proper officer of the Greater London Authority, Dr Robert Chilton, stood behind his desk like a headteacher and announced: "This is actually a historic moment . . . This is the restoration of democratic governance in London".
Mr Livingstone was invited up to the desk first and duly signed the declaration pledging that in office he would "duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it to the best of my judgment and ability."
There was a round of applause from the members, and Mr Livingstone smiled for the camera, but resisted requests to hold up the book in which the declaration was signed.
And that was it. After the mayhem of the election campaign and the selection process, Ken signed the book and was officially the first directly-elected mayor for London. One after another the assembly members signed the book and posed for the cameras, while from the back of the room Mr Livingstone offered a few jokes.
If Mr Johnson was blushing when he walked into the room he turned even redder when he signed his declaration. In keeping with the informal atmosphere of the morning, he turned up in an open-necked shirt and suit. "Is it invalid because he's not wearing a tie?" inquired Mr Livingstone. And it was all Mr Johnson could do to laugh it off and blush a bit more.
