Londoners Head to the Polls To Choose Next Mayor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
LONDON — Londoners go to the polls today to choose their next mayor, with the race between incumbent Ken Livingstone and challenger Boris Johnson the closest since the post was created eight years ago.
The Labour Party’s Mr. Livingstone, mayor since 2000, and the Conservative Party’s Mr. Johnson, a member of Parliament, have battled over violent crime and how to improve public transportation. The London vote, along with local races today in England and Wales, are the first electoral test for Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose popularity is slumping.
“If Ken Livingstone loses, that’s very bad news for Labour and Gordon Brown,” a professor of government at the London School of Economics, Patrick Dunleavy, said. The race is so close that a recount “is a very real possibility.”
A YouGov Plc poll for the Evening Standard newspaper published Monday had Mr. Johnson leading by 46% to 35%. In an Ipsos MORI poll released last Friday, Mr. Livingstone was ahead, 41% to 40%.
The votes will be counted overnight, and the results are scheduled to be released tomorrow evening at City Hall by the U.K. Electoral Commission. The mayor, seeking a third four-year term, oversees a city of 7.5 million people, the third biggest personal constituency of any European politician, after the presidents of France and Portugal, according to London Elects, the independent body created by Parliament that is organizing the election. About 5.5 million people are registered to vote.
