• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

That was without your presence. I wonder why, Mayor, you did not visit any of those three boroughs during the course of the local elections to indeed argue in favour for your tram?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

Your faith in opinion polls is most touching, Mayor.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

It worked though, did it not?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

The fact is that nobody apart from Richard Barnes predicted that Ealing would fall to the Conservatives. The predictions I saw were that Labour would squeak in or that they would get no overall control. In fact, the Conservatives got a resounding majority.

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

I was just wondering, yes you have had the polls, you have had the verdicts of a local election, but to what extent did the TfL consultation process not help actually? I think there have been some grievances about the way the issues have been discussed and put to the public.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

In Ealing we had the largest swing against Labour. The Conservatives had 17 seats and they went up to 37. The outgoing councillors said that the tram had been a huge factor. The Ealing North Member of Parliament, Steve Pound, said the tram had been a huge factor. In the meetings I attended, I witnessed people going up to the Labour councillors and saying, `I am sorry, we are not voting for you this time and it is because of your support for the tram.' You are the only person in denial here. If you want to bury your head...

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

They were predicted three years ago.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

So it is by diktat really?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

I shall just follow behind Richard Barnes and point out that Shepherd's Bush Green was another surprising Conservative councillor appearing on the scene right on the route of the tram of course, and I suspect that was also connected. Can I just ask you, given that the newly Conservative-led Ealing and indeed following behind them the newly led Hammersmith & Fulham are both now declared opponents of your tram scheme, what difference you think that will make to your ability to implement the plan?

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 17 April 2006

I think that is something that the Board at TfL needs to focus on. The other thing is that the transport options for the residents of West London are getting worse. The petition I put in earlier quite clearly shows that rail links are not as flexible as they were before with First Great Western reducing services on links that people had depended on for a number of years.