Definitely not. Brian Paddick has said so himself. After we posted a blog yesterday about hints that Paddick might take a job in a Boris Johnson administration, Paddick posted a reply saying he would not work with Johnson or Livingstone.
And he's written a letter to the Times today (which published the original story). I can't find it online, but the key quote in the letter is: "Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson are both wrong for London's future, and I am not prepared to work in either of their administrations."
Never mind. There must be plenty of other people keen to work for Boris. The FT has got an interview with Steven Norris, the Tory former transport minister and mayoral candidate, who would like Boris to give him the job of running the London Development Agency.
Boris is still favourite to win, but there is fresh evidence today suggesting that his lead might be softer than people realise. The Times conducted a focus group on the mayoral poll and it seems to show that, when voters actually give some serious thought to the question of who they want running London (as opposed to just answering a question posed by a pollster), Ken starts doing better.
The Times collected 10 Londoners, three of whom started off pro-Boris and three of whom were pro-Ken. The other four were Lib Dem, Green or undecided. But after 90 minutes of debate about the merits of the respective candidates, five of the panel were backing Ken and only two were supporting Boris.
