Johnson increases lead as race for mayor reaches final week - Irish Times

The Irish Times - Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Boris Johnson has increased his lead over Labour challenger Ken Livingstone to four points in an opinion poll as the campaign for London mayor enters its final week.

Mr Livingstone's team has insisted they are not dispirited by the YouGov survey for the Evening Standard, which gives Conservative Mr Johnson a lead of 52 per cent-48 per cent, after second preferences were taken into account.

Labour said the race remained "neck and neck" with just three days to go before voters across the capital cast their ballots on May 3rd.

Mr Livingstone released a poster yesterday portraying Mr Johnson, prime minister David Cameron and chancellor George Osborne as blue-faced aliens under the slogan "The Tories are on a different planet", as he sought to drive home his claim that the Conservative candidate is out of touch with voters' needs as Britain returns to recession.

Days after Britain entered a double-dip recession, yesterday's poll of 1,231 Londoners found that 28 per cent believe Mr Johnson is best placed to lead the city back to recovery, against 23 per cent for Mr Livingstone. – (PA)