Australian was power behind team Boris, and let's not forget Marina

Even the defeated Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone, with his decades of experience, admitted they had run a "superior" operation.

Mr Johnson - and his party leadership - picked his team of advisers carefully, aware of his relative inexperience.

They needed to counter early concerns that Labour would capitalise on the "incompetence" label given to him.

But after the Tories brought in Australian elections guru Lynton Crosby as Mr Johnson's chief strategist, the campaign smartened up.

He was the man behind the new, serious Boris, toughening up the public image of the mild-mannered and jovial MP.

He devised the "under the radar" messages targeted at local newspapers and putting the focus on key outer London boroughs. While he was thought to have cost the Tories a six-figure sum, his decades of experience of successfully fighting elections eventually proved priceless.

Mr Crosby is a formidable professional who did not shy away from taking on Mr Livingstone, playing the Mr Nasty to Mr Johnson's Mr Nice.

The other most influential figure advising Mr Johnson on his campaign was his wife, Marina Wheeler.

The pair agonised for weeks over whether he should stand as the Tory candidate and when he eventually announced his intentions she was fully behind him.

She is, according to her husband, "a real Leftie" and has encouraged him to open up his eyes to the great inequalities that exist in the capital.

The intelligent and level-headed lawyer, who first met Mr Johnson at school in Brussels, has been at his side over the past 24 hours as he awaited the result.

Mr Johnson's "kitchen cabinet" of key staff, running his campaign from Mr Livingstone's former GLC offices at County Hall, have given over their lives for the past few months to securing his victory.

They were led by chief of staff Dan Ritterband, a former advertising executive with Saatchi and Saatchi who has worked in David Cameron's private office.

Mr Ritterband, 32, impressed Tory bosses with his creativity during Mr Cameron's leadership campaign but some insiders felt he was too inexperienced to run the mayoral campaign alone. However, after the arrival of Mr Crosby, along with heavyweight strategists James McGrath, adviser to shadow chancellor George Osborne, and Toby Vincent, a senior London Tory, his reputation was bolstered.

Tory peer Lord Marland brought years of fund-raising experience - he was credited with turning round the party's fortunes during his time as treasurer.

Constantly at Mr Johnson's side were media strategists Jo Tanner and Katie Perrior, known as the Trinny and Susannah of political PRs.

They had a full-time job keeping their man out of mischief and convincing the media he was a serious operator.

The women, who have set up their own firm, iNHouse PR, are tough operators and quickly gained a reputation for dealing firmly with unfriendly media. In the final few busy weeks of the campaign, they were joined by Tory HQ staffers including Ed Staite, who is tipped to stay on at City Hall with Mr Johnson.

Another key player was Ian Clement, the straight-talking leader of Tory-run Bexley council, who acted as linkman with Tory Greater London Authority members and councillors and shared his local knowledge with Mr Johnson.

He was joined by former ad man Paul Clarke as communications chief, Bexley councillor Cheryl Bacon as operations manager and Alex Crowley, who used to work for the GLA, as head of research for the campaign.

Former think-tank chief Nicholas Boles, now selected for a safe Tory seat, was in charge of setting up a transitions team for his first few months at City Hall.

Shadow ministers, Tory MPs, GLA members and councillors and City figures also all helped Mr Johnson take on, and beat, Mr Livingstone.