Boris is the next Mayor of London

Boris Johnson is the new Mayor of London, his rivals conceded tonight. The Evening Standard in London is predicting that the Tory MP scored a stunning election victory to end Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign and round off a disastrous 24 hours for the Labour Party. Gordon Brown is sitting in the Downing street flat with his cocoa wondering where it all went wrong. Probably on the day a certain Tony Blair waltzed into his office in the House of Commons for the first time and almost immediately began a cheesy relationship. Gordon's antennae were on the blink that day!

So now it is Boris. The liberally-minded libertine-leaning fellow travellers of New Labour think Boris is a buffoon. Far from it. He is a very clear-headed thinker who will be a great asset for London. A character who can play the international stage. Gone will be the nasal drone of Ken Livingstone, a man who has been barely tolerated by the New Labour hierarchy. In his place will come a man who will be fair-minded but not favourful when it comes to distributing the largesse of London. You won't see many brown paper bags in Boris' office.

A new dawn begins.

Blair gives Livingstone a helping hand

A week today it is polling day in London for the mayor. Ken Livingstone looks like he is just a bit behind. Who else to get to help him out? Why Tony Blair, of course! All in the aid of securing victory for Labour, so Gordon Brown doesn't cut such a pathetic figure.

Three glorious sides of a dodgy triangle. All three corners pointing to trouble.

Come next Thursday, I say - DON'T VOTE LABOUR! If the 10p tax band fiasco is anything to go by, New Labour (and Ken's Maverick Labour) don't deserve any further time in the corridors of power. Now we know. Labour don't give a fig about the poor.

The last straw was seeing Yvette Cooper wingeing on TV about it all. She's got a nerve. She and her husband Ed Balls have seen to it that they feathered their own nests before even thinking of the weak and vulnerable. They should go and stand in the corner!

The Boris, Ken and Uncle Tom Cobley handicap stakes

Boris Johnson is a Conservative who has broken quite a few moulds. Ken Livingstone is a socialist who has cracked many moulds. This mayoral contest in London seems more about personalities than about policies. Is Boris bananas, bohemian or brilliant? Is he all three? Much is written about his perceived character, but not so much on his political ideas. Red Ken, Cheeky Ken, or just plain KEN! is a man living on the edge. Tony Blair tried the full-frontal Caesar attack, then aped Brutus, but still Ken stood standing. I think Londoners would have a fit if the mayor was boring. Nothing to talk about in the offices or cafes or bars.

The others in the contest are equally flamboyant, controversial, or mould-crackingly suitable. The Liberal Democrats have an openly gay ex-police chief in Brian Paddick, the Greens have Sian Berry (who is encouraging "EU citizens" to vote). Respect has disrespectfully split and is in two parts, one with Lindsey German as a Left List entrant and the other called Respect Renewal (not standing). UKIP is flying the flag with Gerard Batten, the BNP has its London leader in Richard Barnbrook, and the English Democrats have picked ex-rooftop protester Matt O'Connor. Added to them is Alan Craig of the Christian Peoples Alliance and Damian Hockney of One London.

Ten politicians hanging on the wall, or will it be sitting on the fence? Either way, this is probably the most mixed bunch of candidates any electoral contest in the British Isles has seen. And it has just five weeks to run!

In the late entrants enclosure is John Flunder of the Senior Citizens Party, Dennis Delderfield who has announced he would stand for the New Britain Party, and Chris Prior from the Stop Congestion Charging Party.

And them to the mix and you get a baker's dozen! Happing voting, London!

London Elects!