Boris extends poll lead over Labour’s Ken
BORIS Johnson has extended his poll lead over Ken Livingstone to six points as his main opponents to be Mayor of London unveiled their full manifestos.
The Conservative candidate wins by 53 to 47 against his Labour rival when voters are forced to choose between the two candidates.
A ComRes poll also shows that Livingstone’s trust ratings have plummeted in the aftermath of last week’s bruising debate over personal tax allowances, which saw him accused of tax avoidance by channelling earnings through a company.
Speaking at the launch of his manifesto, Johnson said the public should reject “outer London ignoring, car-hating, semi-reformed Trotskyists and bendy bus fetishists” before referencing his rival’s tax affairs: “This election is not about who dodges tax and who doesn’t – though I think the answer to that is by now fairly clear.”
Perhaps the most worrying finding for Livingstone’s team is the personal unpopularity of their candidate.
Despite his party’s lead in national opinion polls, over 17 per cent of respondents said they liked Labour but did not like Livingstone.
This compares unfavourably with the 28 per cent of respondents who said they did not like the Conservatives but did like Boris Johnson.