London Elects Tomorrow

Residents of Mayfair, and the rest of London, will have their chance to vote tomorrow in London's Mayoral and Assembly elections.

The candidates for London Mayor are:

• Richard Barnbrook (BNP)
• Gerard Batten (BNP)
• Sian Berry (Green Party)
• Alan Craig (Christian Choice)
• Lindsey German (Left List)
• Boris Johnson (Conservative)
• Ken Livingstone (Labour)
• Winston McKenzie (Independent)
• Matt O'Connor (English Democrats)
• Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats)

Voters are able to choose a first preference, and a second preference. If there is no overall winner in the first round, the two leading candidates go through to a second round where their second preference votes are counted. With that in mind, it's worth remembering that a second preference vote for any candidate who you don't think will be in the top two won't have any effect on the outcome at all. A second preference vote is optional.

For more information about the elections including the Assembly ballot system, goto LondonElects.org.uk

Fuel Protestors Converge In Park Lane

Haulage firms who have been hit by rising fuel costs are parking their lorries in Park Lane today to demonstrate their unhappiness. The rally, which organisers hope will attract hundreds, will then send a delegation to Parliament carrying a coffin to symbolise, I guess, that their businesses are in mortal danger following a 30% increase in the price of diesel over the last 12 months.

BBC: Truckers in diesel price protest

Linda McCartney Exhibition Opens Today

The much publicised exhibition of Linda McCartney photography opens today at the James Hyman Gallery in Savile Row. The exhibition, featuring 28 photos handpicked by Sir Paul, goes on until July 19th.

The exhibition includes portraits of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Simon and Garfunkel, Gilbert & George and Mick Jagger. It also presents landscapes, intimate interiors, self-portraits and family life.

More information
Linda McCartney Photography at James Hyman Gallery
BBC: Linda McCartney Exhibition

Agnew's Sells Old Bond Street Premises

Fine art dealers, Agnew's, have sold their gallery space at 43 Old Bond Street to Italian fashion house, Etro.

The family firm had been at the site since 1877 when Sir William Agnew had it built. Current chairman, Julian Agnew, has announced that the company is looking for a smaller space to move to, since a large proportion of their work is now conducted outside of the gallery anyway, at art fairs in the UK and overseas.

Speculation suggests that the sale might have been worth about £24million to Agnew's, and they are now looking for new premises in Mayfair or St James where they will focus more attention on contemporary British art.

Enjoy St George's Day at St George's, Hanover Square

The Royal British Legion will be performing its annual St. George’s Day concert at St. George’s Church in Hanover Square.

Music and celebrity readings will be led by the St. George’s Choir, and the event will be hosted by former newreader, Martyn Lewis.

The concert starts at 7.30 pm with champagne and canapés to follow at the Oriental Club in Stratford Place.

Tickets are £25 each (for the concert only) or £55 for the concert and champagne reception. Rebecca Pride, telephone 020 7302 7122 or e-mail pride@britishlegion.org.uk.

(Sorry this is late notice, I only just found out about it today)

Berkeley Square Tree Is Britain's Most Valuable

The London Tree Officer's Association has devised a system which lets them calculate the value of trees on public streets. Having applied their system to various parts of London, they have come to the conclusion that a plane Tree in Berkeley Square in Britain's most valuable tree, coming in at £750,000.

Their system works out the "value" of a tree by taking into account factors such as its health, size and historical significance. The purpose of the Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees system (CAVAT) is to increase the burden of proof required by insurers who blame the trees for subsidence and seek to have them cut down.

Further Reading
Metro
The Sun
Daily Mail

Former Bruton St Resident Celebrates Her Birthday

HM Queen Elizabeth II was born April 21, 1926, at the house that was at 17 Bruton Street, which belonged to her maternal grandparents the Earl and Countess of Strathmore.

Happy Birthday Ma'am.

Paris Hilton Paid £70k To Turn Up At Mahiki

Newspapers and gossip columns have been buzzing about Paris Hilton being paid an astronimical £70,000 to turn up at Mahiki in Dover Street, Mayfair.

According to reports, she was booked for a 3 hour appearance but turned up late and stayed for only 50 minutes.

FemaleFirst.co.uk said that the club mixed a special version of a £100 coctail as a tribute to her. The Mirror reports that she was late because she was having her hair and nails done. The Daily Mail has photos of the attention grabbing arrival of Henry Conway to the event - dressed as a Regency Dandy and arriving in a horse drawn carriage.

Her personal appearance was certainly not cheap, but perhaps it worked out good value for the Mayfair club considering the publicity generated.

Man Fined For Stopping In Car In Bruton St

The Evening Standard has the story of Nick Tubbs who pulled over and stopped his car on double yellow lines in Bruton St to take a phonecall lasting less than two minutes. He was caught on CCTV and issued with a £120 charge from Westminster Council.

A Westminster spokesman told the Standard that "Drivers are not allowed to wait at this location during controlled hours unless they are loading and unloading, which this motorist was clearly not doing."

The council says Mr Tubbs caused an obstruction to the traffic and they seem to regard stopping as being the same as parking, citing this definition, "The word parking is defined as follows: 'To park, to stop or leave a vehicle in a specific location.'". My own opinion is that it seems a bit harsh, and I would consider a Red Route to be a place where no stopping is allowed, and double yellows to be a place where no parking is allows. Notice that TFL says "stopping" is not allowed on Red Routes. The fact they use the word stopping and not parking would imply to me that they see a difference, although Westminster council consider parking to mean stopping at all.

What do you think? Is Westminster council doing a good job in penalising those that interrupt the good flow of traffic or are they being an unfair an unreasonable? Use the comments box to share your views...

See Inside Stirling Moss' Mayfair Home

Racing legend, Sir Stirling Moss, has invited The Times into his fantastic Mayfair home which he has turned into some kind of gadget filled James Bond lair. The place is littered with switches and buttons which activate all kinds of things, such as a dinner table that drops out of the ceiling, or a panel that moves up and down to reveal the TV. He can also run a bath to his exact spec at the touch of a button. He designed the place from scratch, and is now planning to design a new home in Florida.

The Times Online has a cool video on its website where you can see some of Moss' fun gadgets.

Bond St Tube Gets High Def Adverts

If you go down into Bond Street tube station anytime soon, you may see the new generation of advertising on the underground. A company called CBS Outdoor is installing a new system this week which will project high definition, moving adverts from the platform onto the wall opposite, which might make waiting for the train a bit less boring.

Bond Street is the first tube station to receive the system, called XTP, and it should be rolled out across the network later this year.

Find out more about CBS Outdoor's advertising offering.

Motorbike Gang Caught On Camera

The Sun Newspaper today reports on the latest smash and grab at a designer store by burglars on bikes. This time it was at the Fendi store in Sloane Street, but as the robbers made off into the night at high speed, they were caught on camera by paparazzi photographers waiting outside Cipriani in Davies Street. The picture shows two of them on a motorbike, laden with handbags.

Visit The Sun website to see the picture and read more