PA Boris Johnson has pledged to end 'disgraceful cronyism'
His triumph capped an outstanding set of local election results for the Tories, and suggests David Cameron is well on course to become Prime Minister in two years’ time.
The final declaration was delayed as record turn-out led tellers to continue counting ballots well into the evening.
Mr Johnson’s victory was in part secured as a result of the increased numbers who took to the polls, as his team’s successful “doughnut strategy” of wooing natural Tories in the outer boroughs who in the past failed to vote in London elections proved devastating for Labour.
The toppled mayor, Ken Livingstone, proved equally successful in getting the vote out in his inner London heartland, but was outnumbered by the more numerous suburban residents.
Such was the strength of the campaign run by the Australian Lynton Crosby, that at one stage it even looked as if Mr Johnson would be declared the winner on first preference votes.
In the end, it took the second preferences of the defeated Liberal Democrats and the minor parties to secure Mr Johnson victory by a margin greater than even he had hoped to dare for.
The result means that Londoners have swapped one of the most colourful politicians in the country for an even more flamboyant character.
Although Mr Johnson’s team successfully curbed their candidate’s more indiscrete tendencies, many onlookers are hoping that he will now shed his new-found seriousness and bring some levity to City Hall.
The mayor-to-be spent the day at his home in North London, leaving only to go for a jog accompanied by a number of camera crews.
Have your say: What kind of mayor will Mr Johnson be?
Boris Johnson
Ken Livingstone
Sian Berry
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Brian Paddick

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Boris Johnson has been declared the winner of London's mayoral election. ''The Daily Telegraph'' called the victory overwhelming, given how close recent opinion polls had been. Results were delayed by record turnout.

Johnson thanked his family and party activists for helping him win what he termed a "marathon election." The mayor-elect also paid tribute to Livingstone by saying the incumbent had the "thanks and admiration of millions of Londoners" for his years of service as mayor.

The people of the United Kingdom's capital city of London voted yesterday in mayoral elections.

In the London elections voters chose both their first and second preference for Mayor of London. The incumbent mayor is Ken Livingstone.

Many polls were carried out before the election. One of the earliest, carried out by YouGov and the London Policy Institute showed a clear lead for Livingstone. A poll carried out near the end of 2007, however, showed that Livingstone was only one percentage point clear of Boris Johnson. 

More recent polls, including one carried out by YouGov for ''Evening Standard'' showed a narrow lead for Johnson. Other polls, however, like the one taken for UNISON continued to show a clear lead for Livingstone.

Below are the latest results:




 London Mayoral Election 2008 - Results



Name

Party

1st preference

Second preference



Richard Barnbrook

British National Party

69,710





Gerard Batten

United Kingdom Independence Party

22,422





Siân Berry

Green Party of England and Wales

77,374





Alan Craig

Christian Peoples Alliance

39,249





 Lindsey German

Left List

16,796





Boris Johnson

Conservative Party 

1,043,761

124,977



Ken Livingstone

Labour Party 

893,877

135,089



Winston McKenzie

Independent

5,389





Matt O'Connor

English Democrats Party

10,695





Brian Paddick

Liberal Democrats

236,685