It's no contest - Paddick must be Mayor

Immediately showing his mettle, Paddick has promised to cut crime or not stand for re-election. His opponents haven't had the guts to stick their necks out that far. And by proposing a possible ban on cars in inner London, he's showed he is prepared to be unpopular in order to improve things.

Dignified and accomplished, he offers London what it needs in a Mayor: a true statesman. Unlike Ken and Boris, he lacks a Tourette's compulsion to court controversy and give offence. Livingstone has treated his position as a platform for his cranky opinions, and Boris would do the same. They've outraged Jews, black people, women and Liverpudlians between them. Londoners who want leadership rather than a big-mouthed egomaniac-will give Paddick serious consideration.

Livingstone won London the Olympics and introduced the Oyster card but failed to curb crime, while congestion is now in crisis. Boris has never held real power and is famous for clowning on TV rather than any concrete achievement.

But as a police commander, Paddick reduced an almost anarchic level of crime in Lambeth through open dialogue with the community, proving he can get results with tact and sensitivity.

Boris has rarely experienced London outside of his cloistered Tory circle (though he's overcome his stated fear of black kids to visit projects tackling teenage crime), while Ken is a career politician trapped in the divisive politics of old-school multiculturalism.

Having been a police officer for more than 30 years, Paddick has a street-level understanding of the capital and knows London and its communities inside out. And as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Met, he helped manage one of Britain's largest organisations.

If Londoners turn the mayoral election into a vote on national issues, it will become a Labour v Tory contest, and Lib-Dem Paddick will lose out. But with its unique social make-up and problems, London requires a fresh approach from the voters as much as from those who want to run it.

Dashing, successful and openly gay, Paddick would best represent the diversity, dynamism and funkiness of our capital city. But he also has the CV most suited to running it.