What the Mayor does all day

MONDAY

7am: switched on Today programme, made coffee and toast before going for a shower. Short walk to Tube.

9am: into office. The GLC was a bigger organisation but here he is responsible for all executive decisions. He has tried to surmount that difficulty with a sort of positive cronyism. Twelve of his closest staff have worked for him for a combined total of 190 years. He says that means that by the time issues are referred to him, much of the work has already been done as he would wish. But his in-tray stays full.

10am: the first meeting of the day is a two-hour session with his advisers. Present are Simon Fletcher (chief of staff), Redmond O'Neill (transport), John Ross (economics), Lee Jasper (policing and community relations), John Duffy (waste), Emma St Giles (press strategy), Mark Watts (transport).

12pm: briefed for a meeting he and Nick Raynsford, Minister for London, will have with borough chief executives the following day. It will deal with emergency planning issues in the light of 11 September. As Lee Jasper and Atmar Singh brief him, he expresses concern that young Muslims in deprived areas of London may be attracted by fundamentalists. The advisers tell him Muslim disaffection has as much to do with deprivation, unemployment and poor housing as anything else. They suggest a London youth conference might allow grievances to be aired safely.

2pm: the weekly management board meeting of senior officers and advisers, dealing with service delivery. Transport is the first item with a discussion about the number of passengers using the Tube and buses. It is later reported that bus use is up six per cent while numbers using the Tube are down 4.9 per cent.

2.20pm: the meeting is cut short as Joy Johnson, head of media relations, interrupts with news of the New York plane crash. The Mayor contacts Nick Raynsford, who chairs the London Emergency Planning Committee. Ian Blair, Met Deputy Commissioner, is downstairs at a Metropolitan Police Authority meeting and he too briefs the Mayor after being appraised of events by officials at Scotland Yard.

3pm: the Mayor and advisers discuss what the impact will be on tourism and the economy in London. He gives TV and radio interviews, highlighting London's emergency procedures and conveying London's sympathy to New York. For the second time in four weeks he dictates a letter of condolence to Rudy Giuliani.

5.30pm: along with Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron, he goes to Guildhall for the Lord Mayor's reception. Most eyes are on Tony Blair but keen observers notice that the famously casual Mayor, under his recently introduced protocol, is wearing white tie. He has now decided that at functions hosted by other people, formality will be recognised.

12am: after the Mansion House dinner comes the subsequent "stirrup cup" event - in which dignitaries are invited by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Michael Oliver, to remain at Guildhall for after-dinner drinks. Mr Livingstone and others talk about the prospects for CrossRail before he gets a taxi home.

TUESDAY

7am: gives telephone interviews to Radio 5 Live and LBC about the New York tragedy and repercussions for London.

9am: reaches office. Reads briefing papers.

10am: a meeting of his advisory cabinet agrees the Mayor will now chair a new Greater London Assembly "civil contingencies" committee, which will sit at City Hall and have a hotline to Scotland Yard in the event of terror attacks in London.

12.50: a briefing from advisers, including Jay Walder and Neale Coleman, on the budget discussions he will have with the Assembly on Thursday. They agree plans to assuage the anger of the cycling lobby by ringfencing £8 million expenditure in next year's budget.

1.30: a briefing on the meeting of the emergency services coordination group, LESLP.

2pm: the Mayor is briefly the star turn at a reception for "older people" at Romney House. Before an audience including the veteran union leader Jack Jones, he condemns the Government for the 75p pension increase.

2.30pm: to Vauxhall for the meeting with Nick Raynsford and London's council chief executives which officials briefed him about on Monday.

4pm: the Mayor returns to Romney House for a briefing about the meeting he will have with Lord Falconer the following day.

5pm: smartens up to be guest of honour at the Asian Trader dinner at the Hilton in Park Lane.

10pm: watches the TV news. Having earlier set the video, he watches an episode of Star Trek Voyager, falling asleep halfway through.

WEDNESDAY

7.30am: gets up. A late start.

9.30am: the World Travel Fair at Earls Court. Visits the stand put up by theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh, before moving on to the London Tourist Board, British Midland, the London Dungeon and Tower of London exhibits and an Elvis impersonator. Speaks of the need to persuade Britons and Europeans to stay and play in London, to fill the gaps left by Americans who won't travel.

11am: he takes the train from Earls Court to St James's Park for a meeting of the London Emergency Services committee at Scotland Yard. They again discuss contingency planning. Much has been written about who would take the lead in the event of a terrorist outrage, the Mayor, the Met Commissioner or Mr Raynsford. It seems the Commissioner would deal with events on the ground. Mr Livingstone would be the Giuliani-style face of London's response while Mr Raynsford would coordinate for the Government.

12.30pm: to the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions in Victoria and a private meeting with Lord Falconer, the minister in charge of planning in London. The two men discuss the various options for the Dome - amid concern that the empty site is costing the Government thousands of pounds each week and is holding back the regeneration of south-east London.

2pm: the Mayor joins the leaders of the political groups at Romney House for the weekly bureau of leaders meeting. With officials including chief executive Anthony Meyer, they discuss the procedure-for consultation on scrutiny documents produced by the GLA. Also the content of the GLA website and the publication of the annual report.

3pm: briefing by Neale Coleman - his link man with local government - about a central London boroughs conference the following day. He talks to Capital FM and LBC about the need to boost tourism in central London.

3.30pm: reads briefing documents.

5.30pm: takes staff to the Piccadilly Theatre to see Noises Off. Trying to persuade other bosses to do the same. Coincidentally Prince Charles and Camilla are there too. Learns from the BBC London crew that a man has been shot by police in Harrow.

10.30pm: takes the Tube home in time to watch Newsnight. Having fallen asleep watching Star Trek the previous day, he views the rest of the episode. Takes the GLA budget document to bed. Falls asleep reading it.

THURSDAY

7.25am: breakfasts at a "greasy spoon" cafe near Romney House.

9.15am: in office. 10am: attends budget committee as chairman of Transport for London. Seeks to head off criticism with two populist announcements, ringfenced money for cycling provision and £120 million for the boroughs to spend on transport schemes. Accused of profligacy by Tories and Labour.

11.30pm: escapes to the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russell Square for liaison meeting with central London boroughs. He tells them the economy could suffer meltdown because of 11 September. Says the capital is under-resourced because many Labour MP have a bias against "wicked old London".

1pm: heads back to Romney House.

1.30: briefing meeting on the progress of his Spatial Development Strategy.

2.30pm: briefed by chief executive Anthony Meyer on the progress of the move to City Hall.

5.15pm: to Regent Street where opera singer Russell Watson and Anne Robinson are the star attractions for the switching on of the Christmas lights. Mr Livingstone unveils the £4 million rescue package he and the Government have put together to help businesses hit by the 11 September atrocities.

6pm: walks to BBC London in Marylebone High Street to respond to radio listeners' questions and comments on the congestion charge and new higher taxi fares.

7pm: heads home.

10.15pm: gives telephone interview to Radio 5 Live about tourism.

10.30pm: watches The Sopranos - a weekly must.

FRIDAY

8.15am: gives live telephone interview to LBC Radio.

9am: works from home as electricians conduct repairs. Friday is supposed to be the Mayor's day for reflecting and planning strategy. The immediate priority is arranging the package he announced the previous day to boost tourism. He

7am: wakes up. reads up on the poster campaign to run in theatres and restaurants.

11am: he begins writing notes for two speeches he will make on visits to Paris and Brussels. The Paris speech is about transport and the way the new administration has sought to tackle gridlock on the roads. In Brussels he will be opening a new office, London House, the Mayor's link for European funding. He writes of the need for Britain to play a full part in Europe and join the euro.

1pm: makes lunch.

1.30pm: ploughs through the agenda for the meeting of the Mayor's management board on Monday. Items include the logistics for London House in Brussels but also worries that the cost of moving to City Hall has rocketed by £6 million. The Mayor and the GLA are determined that the Government, which was responsible for the deal, should foot the bill.

3.30pm: work on the application for Government grant to transform Trafalgar Square, including plans for a statue of Nelson Mandela.

4.50pm: a review of the GLA's equalities work.

5.30pm: travels to Romney House to pick up another bundle of papers for reading over the weekend. He has a swim nearby.

7pm: dines out with friends.

11pm: Friends and Frasier on video.

SATURDAY

Day off.

SUNDAY

2pm: turns to briefing bundle for this week. Reads about e-business seminar and an Action for Blind People event, (today) and prepares for Mayor's question time (tomorrow).

Comment: The Mayor's congested diary