Labour is set for another epic political battle in London after rejecting Mayor Ken Livingstone's bid to rejoin the party. At the same Conservative Central Office witnessed a day of "the long knives" yesterday as Mr Iain Duncan Smith sought to assert his authority by removing former leadership contender Mr David Davis from the Tory chairmanship.
The Conservative's deputy leader Mr Michael Ancram - who kept his post as shadow foreign secretary - insisted there was no "demotion" in Mr Davis's appointment to shadow the deputy prime minister, Mr John Prescott. However that cut little ice at Westminster where speculation had already reached fever pitch that Mr Duncan Smith would axe his chairman because of a policy rift and persistent suggestions that Mr Davis hoped eventually to replace him.
News of the coup against Mr Davis was hailed as a victory for Conservative "modernisers". Mrs Theresa May, 45, emerged as the party's first woman chairman. An MP since just 1997, Mrs May saw her appointment as symbolic of change in a Conservative Party she declared was "open, decent and tolerant."
An angry Mr Livingstone, meanwhile, accused Labour's National Executive Committee - which voted 17 to 13 against him - of riding "roughshod" over the views of London Labour members.
Mr Livingstone was suspended for five years after running for Mayor as an independent against the official party candidate, Mr Frank Dobson.
However yesterday's split did not reflect a straight forward divide between New and Old Labour. The veteran left-wing NEC member Mr Dennis Skinner MP insisted the party's rules could not simply be changed for the Mayor. "Principles cost in life," he declared.