Election will go to the wire as Ken closes gap
KEN Livingstone yesterday blew the race for Mayor of London wide open after a YouGov poll put him just two percentage points behind his Conservative rival.
Boris Johnson now leads the race by just 51 to 49 per cent, with ten days to go until election day.
Previous polls had consistently given Johnson a six point lead but Livingstone has belatedly begun to capitalise on the growing unpopularity of the national Conservative party.
“A vote for the Conservative candidate in such a vital election is a vote for what the Tories are doing to our country and our city. They will use it to vindicate the next phase of their plans,” he said in a speech yesterday.
Livingstone also issued a direct challenge to Johnson to have a TV debate on fares policy this Thursday.
But Boris Johnson rejected his opponent’s offer, joking to City A.M. he would not wait that long to discuss the issue: “I challenge him to a debate tomorrow night, the idle spavined inspissated newt! I’m not going to wait – cowardy custard.”