YouGov puts him 4% ahead

After one of his most controversial weeks since becoming Mayor in 2000 there’s a boost tonight for Ken Livingstone in his bid to secure a third term in the most powerful directly elected office in the UK.

A Yougov survey for ITV London found – with changes on its last poll a month ago – Ken 44% (-1): Boris 40% (-4): Paddick LD 8% (nc)

The poll detail is not yet available so it’s hard to comment further. We have not got the dates of the fieldwork and do not know whether it was carried out before, during or after the controversial Channel 4 documentary on Ken as Mayor.

Quite what Gordon Brown feels about Livingstone we do not know. Four years ago he was a fierce opponent of Blair’s plan to bring Ken back into the Labour fold.

In the betting Ken has tightened to 0.7-1.

Mike Smithson