- Final poll before ballots close puts Boris on course for a 53:47 win - the same result as in 2008
- Two thirds of voters on course to reject plans for elected mayors
- Election experts say Labour could gain up to 700 local council seats
- Mayor results expected tomorrow after 7pm and council elections overnight and throughout the day
By Rick Dewsbury
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Boris Johnson is tonight set to defy political gravity by defeating Ken Livingstone, taking the sting out of the loss of hundreds of Conservative council seats around the country.
With the Tories and their Liberal Democrat coalition partners haemorrhaging support to Labour, the London mayor appeared confident of seeing off Ken Livingstone’s challenge in the capital, with a final poll suggesting he had extended his lead to six points.
Significantly, it also suggested the Tory had scooped up the support of one in every ten Labour voters. YouGov predicted Mr Johnson would deliver a 53-47 per cent win. The final results are expected to be announced this evening.
Final countdown: Boris Johnson is pictured with his wife Marina after casting his vote this afternoon following weeks of campaigning
On the move: The London Mayor and his wife enter a tube station in central London this afternoon as the final few hours of frantic campaigning came to an end
On the up: The mayor, seen here climbing an escalator on the London Underground, is set for victory after securing a second term in office
I'm voting for daddy: Boris and Marina at the polling station with his daughter Lara Johnson, who voted for the first time after turning 18
Team Boris: The Mayor out on the campaign trail with his brother Leo, left, sister Rachel, brother Joe, wife Marina, and father Stanley
All smiles: Prime Minister David Cameron and wife Samantha arrive at Central Hall Westminster to vote in the Mayoral Elections...and then depart after casting their votes
Victory for Mr Johnson will lift Tory hearts after a turbulent month for the Government which has seen its national poll ratings slump.
But elsewhere, Labour was making in-roads in the local elections, albeit on shockingly low turnouts in many areas. Ed Miliband’s party picked up a 13 per cent swing in one ward in Harlow â€" a key seat the party needs to win if it wants to secure a majority in the 2015 General Election â€" and was on course to take control of Southampton from the Tories.
Labour appeared to be stealing votes en masse from the Lib Dems in swing seats such as Winchester, Hull and Havant.
But as well as defeat in London, the Labour leader was facing a humiliating setback in Scotland, where the Scottish Nationalists were set to seize Glasgow council â€" a totemic gain in what was once a Labour heartland.
Nick Clegg’s party lost its last councillor in Sunderland, wiping out the third party in a key north-east city.
Showdown: London Mayor Boris Johnson, left, arrives to vote in Islington with his wife Marina Wheeler while Ken Livingstone, right, and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London
Boris arrives by train at Richmond Station on the last day of his Campaign trail this morning
The home straight: Boris and wife Marina battle to pick up votes as they campaign in Sidcup today
TOWER HAMLETS 'FRACAS' AS POLICE ARE CALLED OVER 'THREATS' BETWEEN RIVALS
Trouble-hit Tower Hamlets had to call police reinforcements today after a candidate claimed that he had been threatened by activists from rival parties.
The London borough has been hit by allegations of voting fraud currently being investigated by the Met and police were in place throughout the day. There have been claims of voter intimidation.
Reinforcement arrived after Chris Smith, standing for the Greens in the London Assembly elections, claimed that one activist threatened to 'punch his lights out' when he complained about the crowd handing out Respect and Labour leaflets outside St Matthias Primary, off Brick Lane.
It was feared today that activists were 'harassing' potential voters. Mr Smith said: 'I came down here at about 10am and there were at least 20 Labour and Respect activists handing out leaflets just outside.
'Election rules state very clearly that each party is only allowed one teller outside each polling station, the rest must be a safe distance away.'
'I complained to the official inside and when I came back out the Respect guy started mouthing off to me. When I told him what they were doing is not allowed, he threatened to punch my lights out.'
In a blow for the Tories, the UK Independence Party showed that it was gaining traction in the limited number of places where it put up candidates.
In early returns, UKIP had secured 14 per cent of the votes in wards where it had fielded candidates â€" enough for third place in some areas, and around 5 per cent up on last year.
Tory co-chairman Baroness Warsi admitted: ‘It’s going to be a bad night for the Conservatives. There are going to be losses across the country. We are beginning from a very high base.’
But she also sparked controversy by equating UKIP with the far-Right BNP.
Lady Warsi pointed out that while the number of BNP candidates had fallen by 14 per cent, the number of UKIP candidates had risen by the same amount.
In response, UKIP spokesman Gawain Taylor called her a ‘bitch’ on Twitter. He later deleted the comment.
Labour was set to win Birmingham and Newport, while the Tories were on course to lose control of Dudley in the West Midlands.
The earliest results, from Basildon and Sunderland, showed large swings to Labour and substantial declines in Conservative and Lib Dem support.
There were reports of tiny numbers of voters taking part in elections in many parts of the country, suggesting widespread apathy.
In Kingston-upon-Hull, turnout was reported to be just 18.7 per cent. Lincoln’s turnout was its lowest ever, at 26 per cent.
Mr Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy Mr Clegg are planning a Coalition ‘renewal of vows’ with a joint appearance on Tuesday as the Government enters its third year. They will focus on economic policy as the glue that is holding the two parties together.
The Tories and Lib Dems will seek to pass off the loss of hundreds of councillors in local elections as traditional ‘mid-term blues’.
After their joint appearance, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg will use the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday to unveil new law-and-order measures, including laws on drug driving and the creation of a National Crime Agency.
Hoping for a result: Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine leave their local polling station in north London after voting in the mayoral and council elections today
Family: Ken Livingstone (right) walks wife Emma Beal (second left), son Thomas (centre) and daughter Mia (left) as well as some of his campaign team as he arrives to cast his vote in the local elections
Independent candidate Siobhan Benita outside St James Church Hall in New Malden this morning to cast her vote for the nations local elections
Planning is also under way for a Cabinet reshuffle, though it is not expected to take place in the immediate future.
Tories tipped for promotion include Housing Minister Grant Shapps, Disability Minister Maria Miller and Employment Minister Chris Grayling. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, who had been tipped for the chop following controversy over NHS reforms, is now thought to be safe.
Overall, Mr Clegg is braced to see the number of Lib Dem councillors slump below 3,000 for the first time since 1986.
A performance like that will intensify speculation that the party could be all but wiped out at the next General Election and that Mr Clegg could face a leadership challenge before 2015.
‘We always expected elections to be difficult last year and this year,’ one source insisted.
The Conservatives expect to lose around 450 council seats, but hope their vote share will be significantly better than recent polls suggest, at around 35 per cent.
Support: Green Party volunteer Caroline Russell and Labour Party volunteer David Braine wait for voters outside St Thomas' Church Hall in Highbury in London today
Pensioners leave a polling station at Haven Christian Centre at Littleover, Derby. Right, two more elderly voters at Grange Hall Community Centre at Littleover, Derby
Keen: An early voter crossing the green towards a polling station in Dalton Piercy, near Hartlepool, as polls opened in the town this morning
In London, the YouGov survey suggested Lib Dem candidate Brian Paddick would finish a distant third, on 7 per cent compared with 10 per cent four years ago. Other polls have suggested independent candidate Siobhan Benita could even push the Lib Dems into fourth.
In the first-choice vote, Mr Johnson leads Mr Livingstone by 43 per cent to 38 per cent, similar to 2008. Once second preferences are allocated, the poll suggested he would emerge with a six-point lead, on 53 per cent to 47 per cent.
However, in elections to the London assembly, Labour enjoyed a ten point lead over the Conservatives.
UKIP also looked to be heading for its first seats in the assembly, with the poll predicting it could secure two. YouGov president Peter Kellner said: ‘The difference between the Mayor and assembly results is striking: a large swing to Labour since 2008 in voting for the assembly, but no swing in the vote for Mayor.
Putting aside their differences: Ken and Boris pose together for a photo earlier this week, but there will be no love lost between them as the election results come in
‘The main reason is the “Boris Labour†vote. We looked at people who told us they were certain to vote, and would vote Labour if the contest were a General Election. One in ten told us they will vote for Boris.
‘Londoners like politicians with character and a streak of independence. That used to help Ken, but now it’s Boris who has caught the mood of the capital. Labour supporters used to find Ken entertaining. Now he simply irritates many of them.’
n PETER Mandelson will today call for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
The crisis-hit eurozone will survive only if it operates more as ‘a single political entity’ with its own president and national MPs sitting within the EU, the architect of New Labour will say at a speech in Oxford.
But the staunchly pro-Europe Lord Mandelson will admit that further EU integration cannot be foisted on to the British public without an in/out referendum.
Big push: Boris Johnson is trying to secure every last vote while campaigning in Wimbledon, as he goes into the final week of the Mayoral Campaign
Another planet: Labour candidate for London Mayor, Ken Livingstone launched his poster campaign showing Boris Johnson as an alien as he trails the Tory incumbent in the polls
SAMCAM'S £40 LUCKY TROUSERS FROM HIGH STREET STORE ZARA
 It was a gloomy day at Westminster today when Samantha Cameron accompanied David to the polling stations where they were to vote in the London Mayoral election.
But the Prime Minister's wife made sure to cut a swathe through the grey as she stepped out in a pair of bright orange trousers.
She paired the tapered style, a pair of £39.99 cigarette pants from Zara, with an ivory blouse, grey round-necked Joseph jumper and a pair of suede grey heels, also from Zara.
Westminster's Central Methodist Hall for the London Mayoral and local elections
Lucky outfit? Samantha Cameron wore an almost identical outfit last October at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, right, even down to the grey sweater and suede pumps
It was a striking look for SamCam, and clearly one that she is fond of given that she wore the exact same ensemble, give or take a neckline, for the Conservative Party Conference last year.
Samantha debuted the vibrant cigarette pants back in October, when she paired them with a grey V-neck sweater from Zara, and the same grey Zara pumps she wore today.
The look is an interesting, albeit tried-and-tested, one for the PM's wife, and it skilfully treads that delicate line between adventurous and sensible.
The sobering effect of the schoolgirl grey sweater acts as the perfect foil for the tropical tone of her bottom half, and the grey shoes pull the look together neatly.
It is an outfit that says 'I'm fashionable, quirky, contemporary - but dependable and approachable'.
The juicy tangerine toned trousers are a welcome break from the norm, given that Samantha Cameron, while frequently fashion-forward, more often than not favours her trusty black Joseph cigarette pants for public events.
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I thought you reported that he had left his wife and moved elsewhere after having yet another fling with a woman, which resulted in a baby? Was that not true the?
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Con Dem nation! Time for the Tories to axe Cameron. He has chosen the wrong policies, alienated his core vote and people are walking away from his party. He is a dead man walking.
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None are worth Voting4. Same old rubbish.
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Thankfully, Labour are predicted to take most of the seats on the assemblies, which at least will mean Boris won't be able to be as silly as he has been for the last 4 years.
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Nu Labour celebrating voter apathy is how far way they are from being elected again!! Lib Dems are being quite rightly put into their places now I doubt anytime soon this century they will be part of the government again as they have obviously caused a lot of friction when the tories wanted to do something the Lib Dems opposed that so voters turn to labour to give them the message or abstain altogether. Next general election is likely to have an alltime low turnout anyway. Tories have at least one trump card in the euro referendum which is most likely their best chance a further lib dem pact would be a massive mistake everyone knows it!
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No, I don't think it is apathy which has kept voters at home, so much as having NOBODY they consider fit to vote for. I have voted for someone I really did not want to vote for, but I absolutely refused to vote for the lib-lab-con party.
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He. He. So the Con/Dems are in trouble. So nothing new there then. They should just leave and somebody else should take over. UKIP would be a good idea.
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Oh dear it appears to have been a national ROUT for con-dem austerity measures and policies , I guess their targeting of students , pensioners and the sick and disabled has mysteriously backfired on them big time . FAREWELL then con-dem coalition your hours are numbered .
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...why has sam cams shirt disappeared?? - stef, london, 04/5/2012 01:17------Because one picture was taken today and the other last October as the caption clearly states had you bothered to read it...
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Wish we were back in the the UK to vote. Even Gordon Brown is better than Cameron who will slowly continue the work of Thatcher and bring the UK down - the current NHS decisions will come back and haunt us all in years to come and it will be a Labour party that takes the rap for current decisions like the current financial crisis was not one that was created by the Labour party but by Thatcher who deregulated the financial industry in her time. Get rid of the Tories before it is too late.
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