Livingstone brands Boris 'a joke' in London mayoral elections

April 30, 2008 On the final day of campaigning before the vote in the London mayoral election, incumbent Ken Livingstone attacked main rival Boris Johnson as "a joke". He warned Londoners that they were not voting in a "Celebrity Mayor" contest.

Livingstone unveiled a campaign poster in West Ham that will also be printed on postcards and sent to one million Londoners. It reads: "Don't vote for a joke. Vote for London."

"It's not an election for the host of Have I Got News For You or a celebrity mayor. It's about who is best placed to run an £11bn budget every year," Mayor Livingstone said, referring to the panel game show, for which Boris Johnson has been a guest host.

"Tomorrow you have a choice between new policies and fresh energy from a new mayor in City Hall or more of the same from a tired, out-of-date administration that is beset by allegations of sleaze," responded Johnson in a mass e-mail to over 500,000 voters. "I am optimistic about London's future and believe we can make London a greater place to live in."

London will be voting for mayor tomorrow, May 1. Ken Livingstone is the candidate for The Labour Party and Boris Johnson is the candidate for the Conservative Party. There are a number of other candidates, but recent opinion polls have shown it to be a two-person race, with some polls predicting a victory for Livingstone and others Johnson.