IT’S BORIS VERSUS KEN

Landslide victory in Tory poll means Henley
MP will stand in London mayor contest

By Will Davies

It's official — Boris Johnson has been chosen as the Tory candidate to challenge Ken Livingstone to become the next Mayor of London.

In a vote open to all Londoners, Henley’s MP won a massive 78.23 per cent of the votes with 15,661 of the 20,019 turnout. His nearest challenger was businesswoman and Kensington and Chelsea councillor Victoria Borwick, with 1,869 votes.

After a month-long campaign touring London boroughs, the Henley MP’s pledge to ‘work as hard for people in zone six as in zone one’ proved successful in securing the Tory party nomination.

Speaking yesterday morning (Thursday), he said: "I’d like to thank Londoners for giving me this opportunity. As I visited all of London’s 32 boroughs in the last few weeks the message was loud and clear — King Newt’s days are numbered.

"Across London I’ve met people fed up with paying so much to City Hall and getting so little in return."

Mr. Johnson, who has been Henley’s MP for six years, has promised to tackle crime, address London’s housing crisis and encourage more cycling.

"The job of the mayor is simple — to get people to work on time, to ensure people feel safe on the streets, to help people find a place to call home, to celebrate our diversity and to champion our success," he added.

"I want to be a mayor that will listen, will learn and will lead."

Mr. Johnson also announced yesterday that if elected, he will relinquish his duties as MP for Henley. The election takes place next May.