Boris Johnson Friday night beat Ken Livingstone in a closely fought race to secure a second term as London mayor, a victory that raised Conservative morale after a dismal round of local elections for the coalition.
On a day of resounding council victories for Labour in every part of Britain, Mr Johnson provided David Cameron with some cause for celebration just before midnight as he held on to City Hall with 1,054,811 votes just beating Mr Livingstone on 992,273.
Mr Cameron claims that a Tory victory in the capital proves that Ed Miliband, Labour leader, is still failing to connect with voters in high-profile contests; Labour insists the mayoral result is entirely down to the idiosyncratic “Boris factor”.