LONDON BRIEFING:HE MAY have missed out on a Bafta at the weekend, but celebrity businessman and television star Sir Alan Sugar is, according to the Evening Standard, the people's choice as next mayor of London.

A poll by the paper and ITV's London Tonightprogramme showed 40 per cent of voters would back Sugar, star of the Apprentice, if he stood as an independent candidate against the current mayor, Boris Johnson.

The tally for the tousle-haired toff, who this week celebrates his first anniversary in City Hall, was 32 per cent, although the poll also showed that Johnson would still easily beat former mayor Ken Livingstone, from whom he snatched victory last year.

Support for Sugar was particularly strong among the under-35s – typical Apprenticeviewers – and the findings say more about Britain's obsession with celebrity than Sugar's talent as a politician or businessman – or, indeed, his availability for the role. The chances of Sugar submitting his business empire to scrutiny by the press, as he would have to if he were to become mayor, are virtually zero.

Relations between the press and the Amstrad founder and former Tottenham Hotspur owner have never been particularly cordial, although Sugar has mellowed slightly since the success of the reality TV show, which is in its fifth series.

Sugar, or "Siralun" as he's known by Apprenticeaficionados, entered into the spirit of things after the Standard poll, describing the job of overseeing the capital's budget of £12 billion-plus as "a walk in the park". And so, too, did Johnson, hamming it up as usual, as he declared that he feared no man – or woman. "If Alan Sugar is to be my nemesis then so be it. Bring it on," he said.

Johnson has confounded expectations in his first year at City Hall. Few took him seriously when he stood against Livingstone and his dramatic victory was dismissed by opponents as a fluke. Just give him time, they said, and “bumbling Boris” would soon make an almighty hash of things.

There have been plenty of gaffes, of course, and London’s transport system remains a disaster area, but on the whole Johnson has settled into the role far better than even his supporters might have hoped.

His high-profile championing of all aspects of life and work in the capital plays well with Londoners and he won widespread support for early moves such as the ban on alcohol on the underground and the scrapping Livingstone’s western extension of the congestion charge zone.

As far as the City goes, Johnson has repeatedly championed London’s leading role as a global financial centre. In recent days, he had weighed into the controversy over the introduction in last week’s budget of a new top-rate tax of 50p for high earners, warning that it will do serious damage to London’s ability to attract and retain talent.

As Johnson celebrates his first anniversary as mayor, there is growing speculation that he harbours ambitions to return to parliament.

He is increasingly talked of as a successor to David Cameron, speculation that has been fuelled in recent days by the normally talkative Johnson’s refusal to say whether he plans to stand for a second term at City Hall.

But if Cameron’s job comes vacant, as many think it might, an even greater office could be within his grasp.

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ONE WEEK on and the furore over Alistair Darling’s controversial budget shows little signs of abating. The chancellor’s sums are being called into question from every quarter and his forecasts have been widely dismissed as far too optimistic.

In his speech, Darling hinted at “green shoots” of recovery, insisting that the economy will start to recover towards the end of this year and will bounce back strongly in 2010 and 2011.

But less than 48 hours after he faced the jeers of the Commons, it was the City’s turn to heckle as official figures revealed a shock 1.9 per cent plunge in gross domestic product over the first quarter.

There was more bad news on Monday, as the green shoots of recovery in the housing market withered away.

Anyone wanting to take a bet on whether Darling will be around to deliver a budget next year would be well advised to head to the bookies sooner rather than later, before the odds get even shorter.

Fiona Walsh writes for the Guardian newspaper in London