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City Hall Desk
Mayor of London Boris Johnson, is being accused of sleep walking in his campaign to be re-elected as mayor, with a recent YouGov survey showing that he is falling behind Ken Livingstone. Whilst the campaign to see Ken Livingstone elected as Mayor has been aggressive on Twitter and around London with local campaign events, BackBoris 2012 has been caught "sleep walking" according to Conservative activists.
While previous polls were showing Boris Johnson ahead, YouGov in its recent poll showed that rival Ken Livingstone is now marginally ahead.
The YouGov poll having used a sample of 1,349 adults - larger than usual - between 10 and 16 January showed Livingstone edged ahead to take a 51-49 lead. A percentage of 46% of the sample said that in a first round of voting they would vote for Livingstone, a 44% said they would vote for Johnson and only a 7% voted for the Liberal Democrat candidate, Brian Paddick. The second round votes appeared to fall evenly between Livingstone and Johnson as Paddick eliminated. YouGov had also conducted a poll of Londoners’ voting intentions in June 2011 when Johnson had enjoyed a 54-46 lead.
The poll shows that Labour voters who were about to vote for the Tory mayor are now reconsidering. Last June, almost a quarter of Labour supporters said they would vote for him but according to the last figures that number halved to 12%.
The number of voters who see Livingstone as in touch with the concerns of ordinary people has risen from 37% to 40%, while the same number for Johnson has fallen from 20% to 13%. The poll suggests that Londoners’ voting is likely to be affected by transport costs and crime issues. Peter Kellner, the YouGov president added: ‘It looks as though Ken Livingstone’s promise to cut fares on buses and the tube has made an impact.’
It is believed the Conservative party campaign is kicking off this weekend with a "Safer streets after Mayor's police boost" with the BackBoris campaign claiming that an extra £42 million has been invested in policing this year alone.
Reporting by Angela Derveni
Photo Credit: Natalie Mitrides
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