'Boris is the Mayor' [RED KEN DOWN IN FLAMES]

Evening Standard ^ | 02.05.08 | Paul Waugh, Pippa Crerar and Joe Murphy

[Enchante]

Boris Johnson is the new Mayor of London, his rivals conceded tonight.

The Tory MP scored a stunning election victory to end Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign and round off a disastrous 24 hours for the Labour Party.

After a nailbiting count, Mr Johnson was so far ahead on first-preference votes he could not be caught by Mr Livingstone, even after second preferences were taken into account.

Labour officials conceded privately that the Conservative was too far ahead. At 5pm, Mr Livingstone's campaign chief Tessa Jowell said: "The reports I'm getting suggest Boris Johnson is ahead.

"If Ken has not won, London has lost somebody very special." Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick conceded defeat, saying Mr Johnson had won. Mr Livingstone did better than expected in north London - but the "Boris effect" proved unstoppable elsewhere.

Mr Johnson, 43, was endorsed by the Evening Standard and his triumph follows our exposés of the Mayor's office.

Mr Livingstone's aide Lee Jasper was forced to quit after reporter Andrew Gilligan revealed his links to a group that mislaid taxpayers' cash. Police were called in after we reported allegations of irregularities in millions of pounds of London Development Agency grants.

The result in London came on a nightmare day for Gordon Brown, as Labour crashed to its worst town hall results in 40 years and lost more than 300 council seats.

[Enchante]

Red Ken down in flames....... a great day!!

[Enchante]

Glad to see that commie POS “Red Ken” Livingstone bite the dust in London’s mayoral election.

Good riddance to very bad rubbish!

[Enchante]

Is there much reaction yet in the UK to the election results?

Seems like a good drubbing for the left - good news!

[Churchillspirit]

Red Ken down in flames.....a great day!!

Great day indeed.....well done, Boris.

[PurpleMan]

“Ken the Red” loses but they elect a guy named “Boris” who is NOT a red?

Up is down and down is up.

[Calvin Locke]

What's the demo of "north London"?

[Cinnamon Girl]

Boris Johnson, 43, was born in New York and moved to London when he was five. Educated at Eton and Oxford, he became a journalist and edited The Spectator between 1999 and 2005. In 2001 he was elected Conservative MP for Henley. He went on to become party vice-chairman and shadow minister for the arts, but was sacked by Michael Howard in 2004 for denying his affair with his Spectator colleague Petronella Wyatt. He is married with four children and is the Conservative candidate for the London mayoral election.

Yeay, London.

[Biblebelter]

I listen all day to a classical musical station out of London which offers very little news and analysis. But there was denial earlier in the day, acknowledging Labor defeats all over the country, but saying that “London” was a much different place politically than the rest of the country. Obviously, the left in London will take this very very hard.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Staff were enthusiastic. “It’s a terrific honour to have you here,” said a Year Eight teacher whose pupils performed a brief excerpt of a play depicting Jews from Vilna escaping the Nazis but ending up in Siberia. “Brilliant, well done,” said Mr Johnson, who has Jewish ancestry. “I am Boris Johnson and I am trying to be the mayor of London. I am here looking around to see how I can help.”

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

The communist is out! Damn all communists!

[Cicero]

Wow, great news.

On a side note, however, I have always gotten a kick out of the name of his campaign director, Tessa Jowell. Perhaps she will find some other way to keep in the news.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

[RED KEN DOWN IN FLAMES]

WOO-Hoo!!! ;)

[kms61]

The British Conservative party is to the left of the US Democrats on a lot of issues.

[Eva]

Good news indeed.

[SevenofNine]

COOL

[agere_contra]

Was it Radio 3 or Classic FM?

Radio 3 has no adverts, but their brief news spots suffer from BBC disease.

[OpusatFR]

“If Ken has not won, London has lost somebody very special.”

Yes, he’s a very special numbskull.

[Law is not justice but process]

Still, there is very little to the left of Ken Livingstone. About anything would be an improvement.

Down to the pub to lift a pint and celebrate the demise of Red Ken . . . at least for now.

[Biblebelter]

Classic FM

[Vigilanteman]

Livingston has had his day. He should be grateful that London no longer deals with treason as it once did.