THERE seemed to be a sparse turnout as the “King of the North” came down to north London to rally the troops ahead of next Thursday’s local elections vote.

The Tribune missed out on the invitation to ask Manchester mayor Andy Burnham a few questions, and scheduling issues seemed to mean that only a dozen supporters arrived at Weston Rise community centre in Clerkenwell.

Opponents suggested that the mad dash to snap photos with one of the few publicly popular Labour politicians showed a level of desperation from the incumbents in Islington.

The Labour group – who currently hold a huge majority in the Town Hall – are tipped to retain power when voters go to the ballot boxes next week, but could haemorrhage a significant number of seats to the Greens.