The wheels are coming off the New Labour trolley in lambeth. Mired by the stain of corruption from their allies in City Hall, and the growing evidence of wrong doing in Lambeth by political allies of the Mayor for London, Labour unsurprisingly got hammered in the Vassall Ward by-election. They lost it on an 11.5 per cent swing, enough to lose them all but a handful of seats in 2010. And not a good omen for Labour in the London-wide elections on May 1st - any humility or apologies, no way.

At the count, the Labour big wigs looked like condemned-to-death prisoners in an exercise yard minutes after they had been sentenced to hang. Dead men and women walking and that was before a ballot box had been opened. Normally, Labour top brass, such as Tessa Jowell MP with a country home, go quickly to Southwark when there is an electoral disaster on the cards, but not last week. Actually, the winning Liberal Party's leader was noticeable by his absence. That's confidence for you.

The bottom line is that there is always a worry when politicians imagine they are going to rule for 1,000 years in our borough and a few Lambeth officers should take note. They are far too identified with New Labour in general for their own good in an era when no one can guarantee that Brown will win the next general election. Maybe, they will start talking to Opposition parties or at least keeping us in the picture as they whole Labour edifice collapses. Let's not hold our breath.

But, it's not the fault of our gas-guzzler driving senior people who nevertheless tax people with ordinary motor cars despite driving high-performance vehicles themselves. It's always the same every time Labour take office in Lambeth so it's worth remembering what happened - Labour's millennium in 1990 all ended in tears in 1994 with a hung council. So they came back for four years in 1998 for another 1,000 years. Oh dear, slaughtered again in 2002 with an Opposition coalition - they pleaded with each party in turn to be the marriage partner, but got jilted and had to sulk for four years.

Nevertheless, another chance from the voters in 2006. Only this time a Conservative-Lib Dem council had sorted out nearly all of the mess so all they needed to do, they thought, was leave it to the highly-paid officers, plus invest in loads of spin doctors, press wonks, and party hacks to do the menial jobs. In the meantime, just pay themselves more and avoid the detail.

What we expected was trumpets and cymbals to usher in those 1,000 New Labour years in 2002. But first they decided to up the home care charges for the vulnerable from £7.50 an hour to £17 an hour and then amazingly to £20 an hour. After that came all their pet projects most of which were based in Brixton. In the meantime, the debt collectors were knocking on the door so the council tax had to go up 4.75 per cent - the highest in London in 2008.

Nemesis.