Mary Reid

Well, we've certainly seen variety in the productions at the Rose! - from a naked Romeo, through the exuberance of The Ragged Child to a sparkling Peter Hall production of Uncle Vanya.

This Saturday there's a spectacular aerial dance show from the amazing Ockham's Razor. I remember catching a glimpse of them on TV some time ago and thinking that I must try to see them live - and here they are in Kingston!

Next week, it's another shift, this time into high comedy with Come on Jeeves, based on those wonderfully camp stories by P G Wodehouse.

Incidently, it's worth going into the theatre to book seats in person. As well as avoiding booking fees, at the moment they are giving away 20% vouchers for Frère Jacques (the French restaurant by Kingston Bridge) with the tickets.

Annual Council is the occasion when a new Mayor is installed, and yesterday we welcomed Cllr David Berry to the office.

The new Mayor is a Liberal Democrat councillor in Alexandra Ward. As we heard, David was involved in computers before some of of the councillors (but sadly not me) were born!

David will be supported by Cllr Rohan Yoganathan as Deputy Mayor, clearly hoping to establish a family dynasty to rival the Reids!

This is a sad day for those of us who value small shopping parades, centred around a post office, and their place within local communities.

The Post Office has announced that, in spite of energetic and informed opposition by all parties, it will close all six post offices in the borough that were under threat.

In fact, 155 post offices will close across London. Only seven of those on the original list were reprieved.

A few weeks ago we had a debate in Council on the threatened closures. I mentioned:

Cllr Steve Mama claimed that he had a hotline to the Government and that we could expect some concessions.

Hmm ... didn't work, then.

(In case you don't know, Steve Mama is the only Labour councillor on Kingston Council.)

Thanks to NewsBiscuit and Iain Dale

Any Questions last night was broadcast live from the Rose Theatre in Kingston.

I was delighted to see Sir Peter Hall on the team, alongside some political stars - Harriet Harman, Vince Cable and Caroline Spelman.

(If you're wondering whether the panellists are hidden in the dark - they're not. This was a sneaky shot taken as the audience arrived)

Three questions referred to Shakespeare, presumably in deference to Peter, but he is quite capable of making pithy comments on any topic thrown at him, as he clearly demonstrated.

The first 20 minutes was given over to a discussion on how the prospects of Gordon Brown and the Labour Party had been damaged by the local elections. This was before the results had been announced from London.

You can hear the repeat of the show today on Radio 4 at 1.10pm followed by Any Answers, or you'll be able to listen again for some time afterwards.