Paddick sure he can catch up in London mayor race

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - He has a mountain to climb in the polls, but former policeman Brian Paddick says he remains confident about his chances in the race to become London mayor.

The Liberal Democrat candidate believes there is still time in the four weeks before election day for him to catch up front-runners Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone.

A Guardian ICM poll on Thursday put Paddick on 10 percent of the vote, with the Conservatives' Johnson leading on 42 percent and Labour's Livingstone, seeking a third term as mayor, just behind on 41 percent.

"Being a third-party candidate who is less well-known than the other two, it's about where you would expect me to be at this stage," he told Reuters in an interview.

He said that at every hustings event he had attended with Johnson and Livingstone, people had come up afterwards saying they had switched their allegiance and would vote for him.

"The problem I have is getting enough people to know who I really am, rather than anything fundamentally wrong with my politics or my ability or even my personality."

Paddick says he aims to widen this success at local level in a series of televised debates due for broadcast ahead of the May 1 vote.

"There are plenty of opportunities to reach a much wider, if not the majority, of Londoners between now and the election."