Politics Idol

The best example of the trivialisation of politics has become the extent to which it has been another reality TV show. Candidates' answers on what their favourite food is or similar mundane irrelevancies are more likely to make viewers' minds up than the average policy.

Living on the outskirts of London and commuting further towards the official outskirts every day, I've naturally received a lot of coverage of the London mayoral elections recently.

I've been really impressed throughout this of the excellent coverage - ironically - of the freebie papers, the Metro and LondonPaper. Both have been strictly unbiased, not promoting a favoured winner, and featuring equal coverage of all four main candidates (unlike most major TV debates, newspaper updates and so forth who have frozen Green Party candidate Sian Berry out). This is a standard of media coverage that the rest of our press could follow.

This race is though, once more going to be a fight over personalities and perceptions. It's again refreshing that both Livingstone and Paddick have been effectively refusing to talk at all about their personal lives, maintaining that it's nothing to do with the elections. And of course they're right.

The problem is Boris.

Boris comes into it with the perception as a loveable buffoon. It is indicative of how important experience and knowledge rank that his BAFTA award for his inept performances on Have I Got News For You take higher credence in his qualifications for the post than his experience as editing The Spectator or being Shadow Arts Minister - neither demanding tasks.

Compare this to Livingstone, with eight years of experience as mayor, and has been closely involved in London politics since the days of the GLC in the 1970s. Or Paddick, a successful head of the Metropolitan Police.

In real terms, this experience is far more crucial for running a thriving city like London than anything on Johnson's CV. But this is where I fear the Politics Idol factor. Reality TV will triumph, people will vote for the person who made them laugh on TV for bumbling his lines, and the politicians will lose.

And London will be the poorer for it.