Final poll puts Boris ahead of Ken as London votes

YouGov poll suggests as many as two in ten Labour supporters are not backing Livingston

An eve-of-poll survey for the Evening Standard has indicated that Boris Johnson is likely to be re-elected as Mayor of London.

According to the YouGov poll Conservative Boris Johnson is leading his Labour rival Ken Livingstone by 53 per cent to 47 per cent.

The hotly contested battle for the second most powerful job in politics is held under a supplementary vote system and uses a series of rounds to establish a winner.

The YouGov poll suggested as many as two in ten Labour supporters may have decided not to back Ken Livingston despite calls from key party figures to 'hold their noses' and vote for the Labour candidate.

In response to the poll, a spokesman for Mr Livingstone said, "Today, Londoners can vote Labour to cut their fares and save themselves on average £1,000, and in doing so ensure that the Conservative Party is not rewarded. Every Labour voter must turn out today or the Tories will get away with it - they will carry on with policies that have led to recession, fare rises and police cuts."

There were signs also today that turnout may be lower than expected as voters made their way to polling booths under grey skies and rain.

At a Streatham polling station, in south London, 115 voted in the first three hours.

Predictions suggest the final turnout could be as low as 38 per cent, based on a formula that takes into account the fact that half those voting tend to do so after 5pm and allowing for postal votes.

Boris Johnson made a final bid for votes with a message on YouTube on what he said was "a critical day in the life or our city".

Despite the possibility of a win for the Conservatives in London, elsewhere the predictions for David Cameron are gloomier with his party expected to perform badly in the local elections.

Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are braced to lose hundreds of the around 5,000 seats at stake on 181 local councils across England, Scotland and Wales.

Many councils will begin counting the votes this evening with results expected overnight and tomorrow.

However, counting of the votes for the London Mayor contest will not begin until tomorrow morning.

The YouGov poll surveyed 2,119 London voters between Monday and Wednesday.

 

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
Imperial Cities of Morocco
Seven nights half-board from only £799pp Find out more
Historic Sicily
Seven nights half-board from £799pp Find out more
4* all-inclusive Crete
Seven nights from only £399pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

Day In a Page

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth
Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule
Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.
Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer
Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest
'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst
Written on the body: Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials
Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth
A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up
Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society
Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground - and the monks at the heart of it

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.
Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...
The Calvin report: Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance
10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub
The Last Word: Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally

The Last Word

Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally