So, it looks like Boris is going to win.....

[JeremyVile]

Boris Johnson.
How the feck did that happen??

Hoping the BBC are just joshing with us...

And MN is also unrepresentative because it is so London-centric.
Why all this talk about Boris / Ken? Have you not noticed that some areas outside the capital had elections too? Did you miss that, across England & Wales, Labour had their worst results for a generation?

Though I agree with EP and SWC that this was a fair and democratic contest. At least this election did catch the public imagination, as demonstrated by the increased turnout.

Living in Newcastle I have no idea what the fuss is all about

Good posts, purits, agree completely

Agree with Mourningpaper.

Did anyone actually see anything the man has been on in the last few months? And yet he was still seen as a viable candidate. I'm with aDad too. Will bump on 3rd May 2009 and see how people feel then.

No longer being a Londoner, I can't be bothered to read the whole thread so apologies if I'm repeating, but frankly with the Olympics on the horizon, Ken is probably laughing up his sleeve. Who in their right minds would want to be in charge of that? Pass the poisoned chalice.

Am horrified and terrified at the result. Have had a few encounters with Boris through work. Terribly clever, but also totally nutty. Utterly out of touch with the real lives lived by the majority of people.

As for Ken's record... Labour deliberately set up the office of Mayor with limited powers in case Ken ever got in. So London mayors can only make a difference on some things. They can't put everything right. The things he did, he mostly did well.

Name me one government computer project that has worked right first time apart from the Oystercard.

Woke up this morning (der DER der DER)...

..and oh I wish I hadn't .

Dear oh dear oh dear. So much weeping and wailing on this thread

Can I just interject a note of balance here please.

Not everyone in London is left wing. Many Londoners are breathing a huge sigh of relief to finally see the back on Ken.

And, I know it's hard to believe based on this thread but not everyone on mumsnet is left wing.

I for one could not be more pleased that Labour has had its arse well and truly kicked by the British electorate. Long, long overdue.

And Boris winning London? Well, that's just an extra cherry on top of the cake

One of the reasons that I left London was that I was fed up with what Ken was doing to the place. My dh had a small business in the congestion zone and expenses shot up because of the Congestion charge. In the end the costs made the business unviable meaning that 8 people lost their jobs. In the months before its introduction there were roadworks everywhere which caused congestion so the figures looked good after the charge was brought in.

I think that a lot of people wanted anyone but Ken and the only way to do it was to vote for Boris. Now give him a chance.

Does anyone really believe that Boris has any real understanding of what London needs? What it's like to live in London? Use public transport? Have to worry about crime? Really?

Hmmm. Clearly not everyone in London is left wing missyhissy - 5% of the vote went to the BNP. Oh how proud we should be of that

Whether you're left wing or not, it's hard to argue in any meaningful way that Bozza is fit to be mayor of one of the world's major cities. It's an embarassment for London, imo. I'm cringing.

Ach well. We've given him the shovel - now let's watch him dig his own grave.

If I were Cameron I'd make just a leetle room in my schedule of champagne popping and self congratulating to worry about what gaffes Boris might make in the future and how on earth he is going to actually run this city. The time for posturing and pretending he uses the tube is over. let's see what he is made of.

And it's not just that Boris is a Tory - it's him full stop (I don't really think he was considered a suitable candidate by a fair few Tory voters)

I suppose the only thing those of us who do not want a Tory victory in the next general election can do is hope, rather appallingly, that we are the sacrifical lambs and he does indeed make such a botch that people realise they don't want this replicated on a grander scale.

Somehow this Emily Wilding Davison position is not making me feel a whole hell of a lot better, though.

MI I was up late and saw it happen

couldn't sleep then!

Those of you on these threads who are expressing their delight that Boris has got in-what are you actually hoping he is going to do? Do you have a clue?

Boris is a disaster, but this is a catastrophe.

Tiggiwinkle, that's my question too!

combustible

Thank you Margaret Hodge,for helping to get the BNP in

yes, combustible, that truly is a tragedy for this country. There are 25 seats in the LA, and the BNP has one of them. I am ashamed.
And very angry that it should have come to this. But with no solution to offer.

I havent read the middle of the thread so may have been mentioned but exactly how are mayoral candidates elected? Did the Tories actually vote for Boris to be there candidate? Having seen the looks of on the faces of Cameron and friends on webcameron when the result was announced I am not sure they know how they ended up there.

I am not a Londoner [phew emoticon] so could be off track but I get the impression that a lot of the voters may have voted in a voyeuristic kind of way, to see "what if?" and "wouldnt it be funny?" but never actually thinking about the consequence. The same kind of concept as putting "Jedi" as a religion on the 2001 census.

Interested to see what happens though, watching from afar up north of course!

their candidate