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Boris comes out top in the latest electoral test - comedy

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But upper class buffoonery fails to provide 100% protection

The latest round of electoral sparring found our candidates on display yesterday before an audience of city types, at a hustings organised by Reuters. The candidates remained true to their core belief - avoid discussion of policy at all costs - and instead provided some gentle comedy to an audience tormented by thoughts of impending redundancy. In keeping with his role as also-ran, Brian Paddick went for clunking, hall-silencing observations in place of humour.

The mayor led off with a joke he has been known to use before, to illustrate Boris Johnson's scandalous lack of executive experience. Whereas he, Ken, knew how to be mayor, all Boris had ever done was edit a magazine. "Much as I ... find Boris very entertaining," he said, "running The Spectator was a relatively easy and undemanding job - after the difficult decision about where to go for lunch with the staff."

"Not that easy," rallied the Tory candidate. "I showed leadership!" Ha, ha and ha.

On the theme of Ken's financial mismanagement and waste, Boris claimed he would be ending London's contribution to the European space programme. "I see no benefit, except that it might one day propel the present occupant of City Hall into orbit."

Trying to turn Johnson's act to his advantage, Ken claimed that under Boris, London would be run by "a comedian and seven unknowns," this in reference to Johnson's unwillingness to share the names of who might help him in office.

On this occasion Boris did throw out a bone, saying that one of his unpaid advisers would be Barclays' chief Bob Diamond, a man who can never be written about these days without mention of his immense salary (a "package" of GBP 21 million, FYI).

The Lib Dem Paddick also tried to work the theme of the evening, claiming to be "the serious alternative" to Mr Livingstone with "a sense of humour". But then he set the tumbleweeds rolling through the hall by accusing the mayor of leading the campaign for 24-hour drinking by personal example.

But the comic theme is important. Writing in the Guardian this morning, Soumaya Ghannoushi raises the uncomfortable spectre of some of Johnson's previous writings and comments about Islam, comments that failed to draw a smile from Muslims then as now. In the past, Boris somehow managed to skirt responsibility for his antagonistic remarks by using his upper-class twit persona as some sort of shield. Now that Boris is running for office, he can't play the twit card any longer, yet the toxic content of his remarks has yet to be properly disposed of. Joke your way out of that one, Boris.

No change in the markets - Boris is still available at 1.63 on Betfair (5/8), Ken at 2.62 (13/8)