Race to become London mayor grows tight

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - The race to become mayor of London, with its implications for national politics and the 2012 Olympics, tightened on Thursday with polls putting the Conservative and Labour rivals neck-and-neck.

Boris Johnson, a boisterous ex-journalist turned Conservative member of parliament, leads Labour-backed rival Ken Livingstone by 51 percent to 49 percent according to a new Guardian ICM poll, a much narrower margin than just a week ago.

Incumbent mayor Livingstone, 62, and Johnson, 43, are bitter opponents not just in terms of ideology and party affiliation, but history and upbringing -- Livingstone has working-class, left-wing roots, while Johnson was educated at Eton and Oxford.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has reluctantly given his backing to Livingstone's campaign for a third term, despite some differences between the two, and Conservative Party leader David Cameron is actively promoting Johnson, an old school ally.

With an election due possibly as early as next May, both party leaders are hoping for a boost from the mayoral race. London's mayor enjoys the biggest electoral mandate in the country, with up to five million people expected to vote.

If Livingstone were to lose it could be a big blow to Brown, who has struggled to connect with voters since taking over from Tony Blair last June and has seen his party's fortunes take a turn for the worse, consistently lagging the Conservatives.

Cameron is hoping a Johnson win will add momentum to his bid to unseat Brown, while boosting the Conservatives' influence in London, a city that has traditionally been a Labour stronghold.

HIGH STAKES