In Politics Weekly, Nick Watt asks whether Labour is facing certain defeat at the next general election after the Tories scored a "golden hattrick" – victory for Boris Johnson in the London mayoral contest, plus a share of more than 40% of the votes and a gain of more than 200 seats in the local council elections.
Sunder Katwala, the general secretary of the Fabian Society, admits Labour faces a tough fight but he believes Brown can pull through because he still dominates the battle of ideas. Polly Toynbee, the Guardian columnist, is gloomy about Labour's chances. Julian Glover, the Guardian's polling guru, says Labour can bounce back but that Brown is struggling.
We hear from James Purnell, the work and pensions secretary, who says Labour suffered a grim set of results – but claims the party can recover.
Simon Hoggart, the Guardian's parliamentary sketchwriter, describes the scenes in the commons when Brown came face to face with the new mayor of London.
We also hear from Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister and leader of the SNP. He says Labour is dancing to an SNP jig after Wendy Alexander, the Labour leader in Scotland, ripped up party policy to declare her support for an immediate referendum on Scottish independence.
