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Comment: mayoral contest turns on the TV
Evening Standard23.04.08
With little more than a week to go until the Mayoral election, Boris Johnson has given us his vision of a more inclusive London. In his interview with this paper today he speaks of reaching out to young Londoners whose lives are blighted by social breakdown, and of using the voluntary sector, via his proposed Mayor's Fund, to transform their lives. Certainly the voluntary sector could make a greater contribution through such funding; small grassroots organisations can turn round the lives of youngsters vulnerable to crime and gang violence.
With this intervention, Mr Johnson is attempting to soften his message and embrace Ken Livingstone's natural supporters. But the contest between the Mayoral candidates has moved to television: after a shaky showing on Newsnight, Boris's performance will be scrutinised on several high-profile TV programmes in the coming week, including Question Time. In general, Mr Johnson has avoided the gaffes that many predicted initially, and his internet campaigning has been sharp. But his conformity with the rules will be questioned today after the revelation in this paper that he failed to declare an interest to the parliamentary registrars in a TV company in which he has a shareholding. He has rightly made transparency on funding and interests a priority for City Hall if he becomes Mayor; he must be seen to lead by example.
While he has maintained his poll lead for some weeks, the most recent poll suggests the race is still on a knife edge: it put him six points ahead including second-preference votes. Taking into account pollsters' margins of error, that leaves the race well within Mr Livingstone's reach if he can manage a modest last-minute surge. Both main candidates are now showing signs of tiredness, while Brian Paddick's recommendation for Lib-Dem voters' crucial second-preference votes remains uncertain. For Londoners, the message is that every vote counts: it should make for a record turnout on 1 May.
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