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What information you have imparted will give everyone hope!

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Boris may have won,...but he remains a joke.

As Bollo would say: "I gotta bad feelin' about 'dis..."

At last Politics are becoming interesting!

I'm really hoping that Red Ken gets trounced. Perhaps that will finally spell out to Gordon and New Labour what the rest of the country have bene trying to tell him for the last 10 months.

WE DON'T WANT YOU!!

Hold on there Nick, just had word that a 'counting machine' has "broken down".... may we have to wait on the results..... about 5 weeks would be par for the course!

#5. If/when Ken loses, it won't be because he is identified with Brown and New Labout, but despite the fact that he isn't.

Re Boris, I hope he confounds his detractors and does a great job but, even as a well-wisher, I have to say that he has the look of a bull in search of a china shop.

I've admired Johnson ( I hate all this "Boris" rubbish) for years. He is a brilliant writer - bold, witty and learned. He is very watchable on telly.
But a manager? a leader? a diplomat? Has he ever given us the slightest of hints that he might successfully take charge of a colossal budget and a huge, critical organisation?
Has he given us more than an inkling that he would balls it up?
I can't believe that not so deep down he must feel uneasy at the soft-brained celebrity worship that has brought him to this place. the sort of secular hagiography he winced at over the Diana outpourings.
Well Boris, as Graham Norton might put it, You could be Mayor...it's the voting viewers that will decide.

...and may God have mercy on us all...

If Boris keeps his campaign promises he’s going to be a Mayor that London will be singing about.

More police force on the beat (and buses?), air conditioning on the tube, interactive bus tracking, a safe and prepared London for the Olympics, extra cycle routes, more money into local hospitals, more large and family sized homes…

Hmm, anyone else worried about the budget?

Boris can't do a much worse job than Ken, and he may well do a significantly better one.

Heaven help us. this has got to be a sick joke. please.

(After the imitable Charles E Hodgepodge) All Hail Boris, King of London!

Let's hope for a quick purge and massacre of trendy lefties at the overblown mayoral offices.

He will quit within 12 months either scandalised or just plain bored with it.

12 days i reckon.

oh god, please let Ken nick it on 2nd prefs, which I think he will do; no honest LibDem, green or Labourite would give the runner-up vote to Boris.
If ken squeezes it, this will be good for 2 reasons;
1) he'll have had the almighty scare he needs to shake him out of his cockiness and complacency
2) London will be in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing

Can't wait for the damning revelations about waste at city hall.

Gordon will then get the hee-be gee-bes about what will ahppen when he exits ClimbDowning Street.

All Hail Blessed Boris!

Johnson may be a joke (although, personally, I've always felt that much of his public persona is an act - we shall see...). However he's not as big a joke as Livingston has become over the past 12 months or so, as anyone who's read any of the increasingly whiny, self-righteous and, frankly, bizarre letters he's been sending to Private Eye and other publications which have been critical of him recently can attest.

Livingston's public endorsement of radical Islamic preachers (as well as being embarrassing for many Londoners) also cost him support in the gay community (certainly those members of it that I know) as well as middle class Muslims of my acquaintance who were actually angry that Livingston thought this man spoke for them.

Ahh democracy, the theory that "the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard"

Good luck with this Londoners. I'll be over here. Giggling.

Boris will win this evening for one simple reason - after two terms of office Ken Livingstone has failed to improve public transport, manage congestion or cut crime. Given the huge amounts of cash pumped into the GLA over the past eight years, this is nothing short of dire.

Despite being a dyed-in-the-wool Tory, I actually quite like Ken Livingstone but can anyone - aside from the relatives of Lee Jasper - really say they've benefitted as a result of having him in power?

It just shows how stupid Londoners are for voting for Boris!!

I know Labour are bad, but voting for the Tories?!

Crazy.

May 2 is the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St Boris. Oh my God, he is not dead is he? - with just an hour or two to go before his coronation.

Boris would also have to grow a serious black beard to be a convincing St Boris and adopt a warlike demeanour. He has transformed himself once during the election and this would just be a transformation too far. Boris also has too many problems with unruly hair.

PS the main feast is in fact in July.

Will the not-so-saintly Boris execute a few of the Boyars in City Hall *when* he comes to power ?? I'm sure that are lots of Londoners who will gladly supply the thick, sharpened stakes to stick those Boyars upon !! They can even hold that in the O2 Arena and sell lots of tickets to fund the regeneration of the Tube system !!

And just to prove how multi-cultural Londoners are, hot pies, samosas, spring rolls, satay and Jamaican patties will be on sale by the vendors outside !!

@gillibrand - I seriously doubt that ninth century rulers worried about bad (or unruly) hair days !! They just took it out on their enemies !! A lesson that Boris (Johnson) may want to take to heart !!

First Result Posted. Tory Hold (absolute majority), lots of Lib Dems and UKIP hit hard

This could be fun

I don't live in London, but Kermit the Frog would be better than Red Ken. So I'm all for Boris! If it livens politics up then great.

But on a serious note I hope he discovers just what council taxpayers' money has been wasted on. The only shame is that he is stuck with the Olympics, and no doubt the Labour spin machine will try and blame him for the costs.

Now, all we need if Boris becomes Mayor is for him to appoint Alistair Campbell as his press officer.

What is his policy on overhanging garden rose bushes and the danger they present to small pedestrians? I haven't heard a word from Boris on this. It's a disgrace.

Brian was my first choice. A matter of conviction. But I knew he wasn't going to win. I considered abstention by voting Green (or whatever) as my second choice. Then I read Zoe Williams' character assassination of Boris in yesterday's Guardian and realized I had to get off the fence. So I voted for Boris - and against Ken and Zoe Williams and Gordon and all the insufferable Crypto-Fascists who have been calling the shots in this country for the past ten years. I'm a left-of-centre kinda guy - by the way. Does that tell you something?

I remember when Ken ran back in 2000, his own party said he'd be a disaster for London. He hasn't. Similarly, neither will Boris.

Whether he earns my first or second choice on the ballot in 2012 remains to be seen - but for now I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Well done Boris someone with a bit of spirit politicians are almost all the same nowadays, half afraid of saying what they and the people really think! maybe Boris will live up to his reputation and speak out, should be interesting

Boris the new Mayor of our Capital City I don't know whether to cry or laugh. one thing for sure even as a joke he couldn't be worse than Ken. Well Gordon if this doesn't tell you something I'm afraid nothing will. Never mind you gotta laugh though or not

Some religious calendars indicate that today is St Boris' Day. The Bulgarian and Greek Orthodox calendar of saints has 2 May as his feast day.

Does Boris now wish he hadn't stood? Is this Gordon Broon's rescue package?

Suggestion for Boris, and B.
The promise to deal with congestion and revenue.
Resolve congestion charges, CO2 emissions, and cut a tumour off the body electorate, putting the parasitic divisive plunder force to decent work, by stopping; barking for parking, and chasing stationary vehicles to create CO2, and allow people to be their own judges of whether they can tolerate congestion, by staying away. By simply raising the tax on petrol, while easing the congestion by encouraging people to stay parked free. The change over can be adjusted to match precisely the dual easing with the fuel taxing.
Problem, you will need co-operation of someone caught in his own PR spin drama. “I am paid to listen and lead”. Why is he even speaking then? Listening means being quiet? Never mind if it is too difficult, the next sentence is true, the previous sentence is false. “We need a bill o'frights, and must cut out spin”.

What is a boyar? Is it a landowner in the Russian aristocracy? My ency says during the 16th century boyars formed a powerful interest group threatening the tsar's power, until their influence was decisively broken in 1565 when Ivan the Terrible confiscated much of their land.

Or is it something else? Plot lost down here.

Too late, too late I know but why, oh why was Zoe Williams' character assassination of Boris in the Guardian left soooo late?

Time to give good old Boris a chance, it seems that there's a lot more people out there that believe in his capability than previously thought.

I wish him the very best of luck and think it could be sign of great things to come.

the first lines i have read about boris pose me hope for the future of London. So easy so obvious that this is why it escaped labour rulers. Get drink of the underground. alchol is to be banned. great. Obvious but great. Children with free travel permits if they misbehave shred them wonderful, Community work unpaid to earn them back. fantastic. so much logic it shines.

I don't live in London any more but I am so pleased that Boris got in as Mayor.

Everyone thinks he is a bit of a fop but he is a very astute and aerodyte man. I wish him well in his new post.

Well done Boris. A much needed breath of fresh air for London.