Another week, another rebellion ... this week it's council housing that sees Labour MPs lining up with Lib Dems and Tories to shame the government. The same backbenchers who wanted Blair gone, seem even less happy with Brown.
In Barnsbury, Tony's home before Downing Street, there are hardly any council estates left. All leafy squares? Not at all: there's lots of social housing; but a decade ago most of the estates transferred to housing associations. Why? Because the New Labour government told tenants it was the only way they'd ever get the investment needed to improve their homes.
Not all stock transfers are the result of government blackmail. Tenants on Packington chose stock transfer rather than PFI to fund the rebuilding of their estate. Residents of other estates started their own stock transfers. When tenants do vote for transfer it's got to be a real choice.
Across Islington, the best estates are those where the residents are in charge, whether it's through housing cooperatives, tenants' management organisations, or small housing associations.
For all the talk of choice in public services, it's Labour loyalists - including Islington South's own MP - who voted to oppose fairer ballots for stock transfers.
There's trouble in the private housing market too; the slowdown is now official as the Treasury predicts a significant fall in stamp duty income.
The cheapest flats in Islington cost £200k, seven times the average London salary. So a gentle fall in excessive house prices is good news for people struggling to buy a home.
But with personal debt on property at an all time high, a house price crash would ruin households who are already facing rising energy and food bills. The Bank of England could help, by linking interest rates to house prices as well as retail prices. But will Gordon let them?
Meanwhile, it's hard to feel much sympathy for estate agents. Their marketing techniques continue to be fairly shameless: in the last month I've seen agents' boards attached to an estate office, a bin store and the railings of a local park. There is such a thing as bad publicity...
The clocks have gone forward, spring has sprung, the poll cards have landed on the doormat; campaigning for the London elections is officially underway. On Monday I had the pleasure of introducing our local GLA candidate, Meral Ece, at her campaign launch in Islington town hall.
Beforehand we squeezed in a brief canvassing session. With no time to waste, I hesitated at a door where the name on my card was flagged as definitely Labour. I rang her bell. A face appeared at the window: "Oh it's you, I want a word with you". I put on a brave smile as she hurried downstairs, only to find she wanted a Lib Dem poster. Yes, she had supported Labour, but is now disillusioned with Gordon and Ken, and keen to support us. So I arrived at the town hall in the best of spirits to greet our guest speaker.
Islington Lib Dems are a famously green lot and for whatever reason, speakers arriving by car seem to be unlucky. One busy MP gave us an inspiring speech and rushed off, leaving us to enjoy our refreshments. Emerging an hour later, we found him still lurking by his car awaiting the AA; his starter motor had gone. Another time, a Lib Dem peer was due to address us on crime but arrived late; his car had been broken into. Our main speaker this time was Ed Davey MP, who had sensibly come by public transport.
Politicians get used to answering on topics from A-Z. Literally; so for Ed: as shadow foreign secretary, he got questions from America to Zimbabwe, and took them all in his stride. Speaker meetings, like some of the raffle prizes, may be as old as democracy itself; but it's good to know they show no signs of extinction.
Meanwhile, our mayoral candidate Brian Paddick, is being thoroughly modern; he's issuing campaign updates by the admirably concise medium of Twitter. So I can't do better than his latest update: "The Liberal Democrats' team for the London elections have all been successfully nominated. Bring on May 1!"
* Bridget Fox is the Lib Dem candidate for Islington South and Finsbury
