Norris named Tory candidate for Mayor

Steve Norris was named as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London yesterday and immediately promised to scrap the congestion charge if he defeated Ken Livingstone next year.

Mr Norris beat Roger Evans, a London Assembly member, by 12,161 votes to 3,637 in a run-off among Tory activists in the capital.

His first campaigning appearance will be with Iain Duncan Smith at Smithfield Market, London, today to protest against the introduction of the congestion charge.

The two men have had an uneasy relationship, with Mr Norris's liberal instincts running counter to Mr Duncan Smith's right-wing background. But Mr Norris established himself as the capital's most prominent Tory after achieving a strong performance in the Mayoral election in 2000, when he finished second to Mr Livingstone.

The former Transport Minister told GMTV yesterday: "I think Iain Duncan Smith's had a tough job in order to make a real sea-change in the way the Tory party has been perceived, and I actually think he's making quite a lot of progress. I think we should have more women and ethnic minority candidates represented in Parliament. Iain's made it absolutely clear he's committed to that. I mean, we're not making as fast progress as I would like, but he's certainly getting there."

The Labour candidate will be Nicky Gavron, the Deputy Mayor, while Simon Hughes is likely to run for the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Livingstone will start as the front-runner, but he has admitted his chances will be wrecked if his congestion charging scheme fails.