Cripes! Boris is Mayor of London; Ken ‘a victim of Brown’s blunders’

Boris Johnson's victory, finally declared at four minutes before midnight, poured salt into the wounds of Gordon Brown after the worst set of election results for Labour since the 1960s. Boris won with 1,168,738 votes to Labour Ken Livingstone's 1,028,966.

Brown now faces the task of holding his party together against a backlash from grassroots Labour MPs who blame him for abolishing the 10p lower tax band for the lowest paid.

Left-wing Campaign Group chairman John McDonnell [see earlier report below] blamed Brown's blunders for Livingstone's defeat. "This is desperately worrying for London. It is also a personal tragedy for Ken who has devoted his life to the capital city and its residents," said McDonnell. "Ken has been the victim of the backlash against New Labour."

Johnson, who overcame criticism that he was a joker who would be a 'disaster' for London, gave a magnanimous midnight victory speech at City Hall, hinting that he is ready to bring in Lib Dem candidate Brian Paddick, the former Metropolitan police commander, as an adviser on the police.

Boris also paid tribute to Livingstone for shaping the office of mayor and speaking for London after the July 7 bombings, saying he had the "thanks and admiration of millions of Londoners".

Boris's team were confident of victory by early evening and with his sister, Rachel and his father, Stanley, quietly celebrated at the Pizza Express under the Millbank Tower before uncorking the champagne at midnight.

However, on the morning after, Boris will have to come to terms with running the city as Livingstone's staff are quickly swept out of City Hall and replaced by 'Team Boris'.

His victory is expected to trigger a by-election at Henley-upon-Thames, where he has been MP since 2001. Stanley Johnson immediately declared himself a candidate for his son's vacant seat, which may be difficult for David Cameron and Henley constituency Tories to resist.

Meanwhile, the Tory leader has ordered all his troops to go to the north west to try and capture another Labour scalp - the Crewe and Nantwich seat in the by-election on May 22 caused by the death of Labour stalwart Gwyneth Dunwoody. That must now be well within his grasp.

THE MOLE: LONDON ELECTION

FIRST POSTED MAY 3, 2008