Canny Ken was outwitted in the end by an even cannier enemy

He outwitted Thatcher, survived Major, defeated and then outlived Blair. But after decades of defying political gravity, Comeback Ken simply couldn't convince the voters that he deserved another encore.

Ever since he started in politics as a Lambeth councillor in 1971, colleagues knew that Kenneth Robert Livingstone was a breed apart. Having left school to work briefly as a lab technician, he soon became a full-time politician and worked his way across the capital's Labour parties and up the ladder at the GLC.

Riding the crest of the Left-wing wave that flooded London in the late Seventies and early Eighties, his mastery at machine politics was never more in evidence than the "coup" that saw him take over at County Hall in 1981. Seen as a voter-friendly rising star by various socialist factions, he was made leader the day after Andrew Macintosh led Labour to a narrow victory over the Tories.

It was his battles with Margaret Thatcher that were most memorable, in particular his shrewd decision to hire an ad agency to campaign against the abolition of the GLC. Although the Prime Minister rammed through the closure of County Hall, Livingstone ran rings around her in persuading the public that they were losing their right to self-rule.

He switched his sights to Westminster in 1987 after winning Brent East but quickly found he had few friends in Parliament and was forced to give up his stated ambition of becoming Labour leader.

Ironically it was Tony Blair's decision to resurrect London government that gave Livingstone the second chance he needed.

Despite vowing never to stand against Labour for the 2000 mayoral candidacy, he did just that when he lost the party nomination. Livingstone again outfoxed the establishment, raising cash from celebrities to stand and win as an independent.

The mayoralty allowed Livingstone to regroup his long-time allies and give them jobs at City Hall. He defied the Treasury to introduce his congestion charge, the world's first for a capital city. He lost the battle against Gordon Brown's part-privatisation of the Tube but yet again won the PR war. It was inevitable that a weakened Blair decided to readmit him to the party just before the 2004 mayoral election.

For many, even his critics, Livingstone's finest moments as Mayor came during 6 and 7 July 2005. He was among the team which punched the air as London won the 2012 Olympics but within hours had to sum up the feelings of the capital after the terrorist bombings.

After that, the Mayor's grip on City Hall began to weaken. In recent months, the nous that has served Livingstone so well appeared to have deserted him and his legendary charm curdled into what many saw as petulant arrogance.

The Standard unearthed allegations in December about Mr Livingstone's race adviser Lee Jasper and missing millions from the London Development Agency. In March, Mr Jasper was forced to quit.

There were undoubted achievements. He oversaw a massive increase in bus passenger numbers and the smooth introduction of the Oyster card.

The congestion charge is now being studied by other big cities across the globe. He was the first politician in more than 30 years to oversee a huge increase in police numbers, driving through the neighbourhood police teams that have since been rolled out across the country.

Just as he helped persuade Tony Blair that the East End needed the Olympics, he extracted £5 billion out of Gordon Brown to finally make Crossrail a reality.

But the fight against Boris Johnson this year underlined to many just how tired and leaden-footed the Mayor had become.

For once it was Livingstone who was on the receiving end of a canny campaign.