Back in those halcyon days before the realities of office set in, Ms Fiaz was clear in her intentions to end the office of the Directly Elected Mayor, (DEM).

Gone were the days of concentrating so much power in the hands of a single individual.

It would be nice to have a grown-up debate about the merits of a mayoralty and opposing systems. Nice but not likely.

So, the referendum is happening. Residents have begun to receive propaganda from both sides of the campaign. That is from those who want to keep the mayor and those who want a Leader and Committee model.

The Labour Party does seem to have woken up to the idea that there is a referendum and that it is largely of their own creation. Belatedly, it seems that they are beginning to engage with the electorate. Both sides appear to marshal similar arguments claiming to be the true defenders of democracy.

For those of you who are wondering why the council has not been a little more energetic in informing the public about the referendum, we can assist.

The London Mayoral Election is coming up and Sadiq Khan is facing competition from a handful of candidates that no-one has ever heard of. If he fails to get an overwhelming mandate, that would be something of an embarrassment.

The Labour Party seems to have got its knickers in a twist with regard to municipal mayors.

Readers will be aware that the judge has ruled on the Petition Case. In short, Newham Council acted in a correct manner when they refused to accept the petition.

What he did not rule on and what he could not pass any comment on, was the indecent haste by which Newham Labour Group set about to subvert the process.

It seems that Cllr Ali is not quite as keen as some of his colleagues on ending the mayoralty.

Trots and Liberals join forces to turn council into a talking shop.

The drive to fund the “People’s Petition” has gathered pace. They are roughly halfway towards their goal. This will fund their costs of taking the matter to court in the light of the decision by Newham Council’s legal officers to rule the petition as illegitimate.

A member of the public has raised this question (which appears on the council agenda):

As a candidate, Fiaz committed to holding a referendum to end the mayoral model of local government by May 2021 at the latest.

STOP PRESS: The judge ruled that the application can be heard. Mayor Fiaz is forced to engage a raft of expensive lawyers to defend a stupid decision which should never have been made in the first place. How much will this pointless defence cost the Newham taxpayers?