Leon heading for Christmas No1 as X Factor 'fix' row continues

The X Factor winner Leon Jackson is storming towards the Christmas number one spot despite the controversy surrounding his victory.

His debut single When You Believe was officially released today and is on course to sell around 300,000 copies by Sunday - with stores in his native Scotland already sold out.

Leon's success has been undermined by allegations of a "fix" by ITV and the show's producers after thousands of fans attempting to vote for runner-up Rhydian Roberts complained the phone lines were jammed during Saturday night's show.

After over 2,000 complaints were made to regulator Ofcom, who are expected to launch an official investigation.

Last night, however, an ITV spokesman confirmed that Leon won by a 10 per cent margin.

She said the broadcaster was happy to take the unusual step of revealing the figure to demonstrate the absence of "bias".

She said the margin was 1 per cent when the voting was between Leon, Rhydian and the English duo Same Difference early in Saturday's final, but increased to 10 per cent by the time the final vote closed.

Despite most predicting Leon will easily clinch the Christmas No.1, he may face some last-minute competition from old Pogues hit Fairytale Of New York, which has been given a boost by the furore surrounding Radio 1's ill-fated decision to censor the lyrics.

HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said: "While Leon seems almost certain to claim the Christmas number one when the official chart is announced this Sunday, a challenge may yet emerge from past Christmas hits.

"Leading this charge is the Pogues' festive classic Fairytale Of New York, which is just outside the top three but is now being downloaded by more and more people and has a degree of momentum behind it.

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"This suggests that the publicity following Radio 1's brief attempt to try and censor some of the song's lyrics has actually boosted the number of downloads being made.

"It's a real long shot, but if more and more people start downloading Fairytale Of New York, who's to say it can't happen - even Leon agrees that 'there can be miracles when you believe'."

Radio 1 initially bleeped out the word "faggot" from the song, a duet between Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan and the late Kirsty MacColl, in case it offended listeners.

But the station was forced into an embarrassing U-turn following a public outcry.

Leon's single, originally released by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, is already at number one in the mid-week charts on the strength of downloads alone. Woolworths is selling it at a rate of 40 copies per minute.

The chain reported that Scottish stores are shifting twice as many copies as England and Wales, while the branch in Bathgate - Leon's home town - sold out within two hours of opening.

Woolworths' music-buyer Daniel Brooks said: "We've known it for months but it's now confirmed - the X Factor winner will be the Christmas number one.

"The X Factor's sheer power to sell pop music means it will dominate the charts again this Christmas."

Katie Melua and the late Eva Cassidy are currently at number two with a cover of What A Wonderful World, with Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love at number three.