Boris Johnson chosen to contest London mayoral race

LONDON (Reuters) - The Conservatives named eccentric politician Boris Johnson as their candidate for London mayor on Thursday, setting the stage for an entertaining battle of maverick celebrities to run the capital.

Johnson, a floppy-haired former editor of the Spectator magazine and current MP for Henley on Thames, is well known for regular appearances on television in programmes like the comedy gameshow "Have I Got News For You" and for a love life that has often been tabloid fodder.

In a sign of his celebrity status, the party referred to him by his first name in its press release. "Boris chosen for the Conservatives" it headlined its announcement that Johnson had overwhelmingly won a primary vote to be the candidate in next year's election.

He will challenge Labour's Ken Livingstone -- another high profile personality -- for the job running Western Europe's biggest city.

A keen cyclist often spotted riding his bike around town, Johnson has said he would challenge Livingstone's policies on housing and transportation.

"I everywhere get the sense that people are fed up with the current regime," he told BBC radio's Today programme ahead of the announcement of the primary result.

The mayoral election is in May 2008.