This week's programme...

Jon Sopel Presenter The Politics Show

What would he have made of the race to be Mayor of London?

Hello again...

If he had lived, which I admit would be an impressive achievement, William Shakespeare would be celebrating his 444th birthday next week.

The politics of the great man are unknown.

But he would, I am sure, have been enjoying the race to become the next mayor of London.

Boris against Ken!

A case of a witty Fool taking on a proud and over-mighty King?

"I'll blows the wind that profits nobody".

Certainly for the humble scribblers in the cheap seats, this election is "such stuff as dreams are made of". But a "tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing"? Surely not.

It matters who runs London.

It's a city of 7.5 million people - the population of Scotland and Wales combined. Eight thousand buses, 27 million tourists and a budget of more than £11bn a year.

Where London leads, the rest of the country tends to follow.

There really is an awful lot at stake.

The three would be mayors...

This week on the Politics Show, I'll be talking to the three main contenders. Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick.

Three men surely picked to appeal beyond the normal constraints of party politics and to Londoners as a whole.

It will be pure TV theatre.

"How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in it!"

But it's not all about London this week.

Housing dilemma

House prices have risen by 200% over the last decade

House prices have risen by around 200% in the last decade.

But the average weekly income of working households has risen by just 53%.

It is getting harder and harder for first time buyers to afford a mortgage.

The government is looking at the problem of the lack of affordable property - especially in rural areas.

And the man they've asked to carry out the review is a Liberal Democrat MP.

Gillian Hargreaves has been to Cornwall to investigate.

Rock on...

Victoria Park concert © Syd Shelton

It's also the 30th anniversary of the first Rock Against Racism concerts.

The former editor of the Modern Review, Toby Young, thinks that music and politics are uneasy bedfellows.

Rhoda Dakar, lead singer of the Bodysnatchers, disagrees. They'll both be with me in the studio.

Join us this Sunday at noon to see whether we will be serving up a tragedy, farce or comedy - or maybe all three.

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