Boris Johnson will have to stand down as Tory MP for the blue-chip seat of Henley if, as expected, he wins election for London mayor - though he may hang on until the next general election.
But speculation is already rife that his father Stanley, well into his sixties, may stand for the vacant parliamentary seat. Stanley is on the Tory candidates list and made an unsuccessful bid to become an MP at the last general election. Boris and his dad both have the same trademark blonde mop and look more like brothers than father and son.
And the word is that Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat, also has parliamentary ambitions having had his appetite for politics whetted by the mayoralty campaign.
Ken Livingstone may have to content himself with writing his memoirs, having already said that being London mayor was his last job in politics. But they should provide him with a comfortable retirement.

As Labour MPs waited for confirmation that Boris Johnson had ousted Ken Livingstone as London Mayor, there was gallows humour at Westminster.
One pointed out that recent electoral setbacks mean that Gordon Brown’s Scottish home in Fife is represented by a Liberal Democrat MP, it is in a country ruled by the Scottish Nationalists and his official home at No 10 would soon be in a city run by a Conservative mayor.

As the contest goes down to the wire, Ken Livingstone is pinning his hopes on being re-elected for a third term on voters just not being able to bring themselves to vote for his main rival, Tory Boris Johnson. In the privacy of the polling booths, at the moment of decision, they won’t put a cross against Boris’s name - the so-called “hovering pencil” factor.
In his final appeal to London’s five million voters, Ken sought to play on fears that Boris would not be up to the job. He branded his Tory challenger “a joke” and warned voters they were not voting for the winner of a celebrity contest
“It’s not an election for the host of Have I Got News For You or Celebrity Mayor. It’s about who is best placed to run an £11 billion budget every year,” he said.
Meanwhile Boris, who is e-mailing 500,000 Londoners to encourage them to vote for him, attacked Livingstone for being “out of date”.
London’s voters, he said, had a choice: “Between new policies and fresh energy from a new Mayor in City Hall, or more of the same from a tired, out-of-date administration that is beset by allegations of sleaze.”
Despite the last-minute insults, it’s been a surprisingly well-mannered contest. Personalities have played a part - but so have policies. It’s caught the public’s imagination well beyond the capital. Let’s just hope it has motivated people to turn out and vote.

Boris is superstitious - and if he wins the mayoralty it may all be down to his lucky posts.
The Tory candidate, interviewed on BBC London’s Breakfast Show, admitted that when he went for his early morning run in north London, “I tend to make sure that I touch….I tend to whack certain posts along the way.  I do get a bit obsessive-compulsive about it and I have to whack the right ones, in the right order!”
His admission came when all three of the main candidates were asked whether they would be wearing “lucky pants” on polling day.
Labour’s Ken Livingstone said he would be wearing pants - but would not go any further into his private life. The Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick said: “All my pants are lucky.”
Fortunately they were not asked the boxer versus Y-fronts question. When David Cameron and David Davis were vying for the leadership of the Conservative Party, they submitted themselves for interview on BBC Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour, where they were asked the type of underpants they wore.
For the record, Mr Cameron (who won)  said he was a boxers man while Mr Davis favoured a more pouchy arrangement.

Boris isn’t the only blonde in the mayoral contest. The other is Sian Berry, the Green Party’s candidate, according to Peter Tatchell, the gay rights activist. Although she’s a rank outsider, Tatchell says she’s the new face of principled, pragmatic politics and the only credible, effective option for left and progressive voters.
Sian, he says, would be a breath of fresh air at City Hall. “She’s blonde like Boris, but that’s where the similarities start and end. She’s a woman in a field of candidates that is almost entirely male. Aged 33, she is by far the youngest mayoral contender - a young fresh spirit in a contest overcrowded with tired middle-aged men.”
Tatchell admits that age and gender are not sufficient reasons to vote for a candidate. But he adds: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the Mayor of London to be a young woman? London is a youthful city and half the population is female. It’s time for change. Sian is the face and politics of the future.”

Ken Livingstone - according to Friends of the Earth. But surprisingly Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate, is the second greenest, with the Liberal democrat Brian Paddick in third place.
The environmental campaign group analysed the election manifestos of the three principal contenders and concluded that Ken has the strongest green credentials scoring 9 out of 10, with Boris 7 out of 10 and Brian 5 out of 10.
Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said that as Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone had put environmental issues at the heart of his policy making, and was one of the few British politicians to have shown genuine leadership on green issues.
Boris Johnson’s pledge to ‘take action to make London the greenest city in the world’ was welcome. But his plan to scrap the £25 congestion charge on gas-guzzling vehicles and other, sometimes vague, green pledges cast doubt on whether he would achieve it.
While the Liberal Democrats historically had very green policies, Brian Paddick’s manifesto was “far too sketchy” for Friends of the Earth.

When Gordon Brown became prime Minister, he enticed senior figures from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties to join his government. They were immediately dubbed the “goats” - the Government of all the talents.
Boris Johnson, who is under pressure to name who will help him run London if he wins on Thursday, is taking a leaf out of Brown’s book.
Kate Hoey, the independently-minded Labour MP for Vauxhall in South London, has agreed to work for him as an unpaid non-executive director advising on sport and the 2012 Olympics.
Speculation that Ms Hoey could back Boris has been rife since she was scheduled to appear alongside him at a campaign event last week but pulled out, blaming ill health. While she is not expected to quit as a Labour MP, she has been a thorn in the Government’s side - one of the Labour rebels on the 10p tax - and her latest action will not endear her to Labour’s leadership.
Kate is a long-standing critic of Ken Livingstone. She complained in January about a lack of scrutiny of his City Hall advisers and a “cult of silence” which stopped people speaking out about alleged malpractice.
She’s a devoted football fan and former high jump champion - and could yet be for the high jump with her party.

The mayoral election is not just a knife-edge contest between Boris and Ken. It’s a nail-biting battle for credibility among the leading pollsters. Come Friday - the day the results are announced- someone is going to have egg on their faces. According to the internet pollsters YouGov, in London’s Evening Standard newspaper, the Conservative contender, Boris Johnson, goes into the final week 11 points ahead on first preference votes - and 10 points ahead in the crucial second preference category.rnIt puts Boris on 46 per cent to Ken’s 35 per cent of first preference votes. In what is thought likely to be an inevitable run-off, Boris would secure 55 per cent to 45 per cent for his Labour rival.rnThe Livingstone camp is pinning its hopes on a conventional Ipsos-MORI poll, commissioned by the public services union UNISON, which shows that Ken has moved into the lead. Taking into account second preferences, those who both say they are certain to vote and are formally registered to vote - Ken Livingstone’s lead is 4 points with 52 per cent to Boris Johnson’s 48 per cent.rnOn the basis of the closest comparison to previously published polls, that is taking those certain to vote, Livingstone has moved into a 6 point lead – with 53 per cent compared to 47 per cent for Johnson.rnMeanwhile, the bookies report a rush of bets for Boris to win. The bookmakers William Hill has slashed his odds from 4/6 to 4/7 favourite, as Ken Livingstone’s odds have been lengthened from 11/10 to 5/4.

Ken’s final shot in the mayoral election is to portray his main rival Boris as a joke.
The slogan for his final campaign poster is:
‘Imagine Boris Johnson in charge of London’s £39 billion transport budget.
Suddenly he’s not so funny.
Don’t risk London – vote Ken’.
Ken’s last-ditch hope is to persuade voters that while Boris may be likeable, his rival is not up to the job of running London.
Yet the seven month mayoral campaign may have been the making of Boris. It has turned him from a likeable buffoon and star of television chat shows into a serious politician.
The Tory leader, David Cameron, and other senior Conservatives, who had initially had their doubts, have been impressed by his commitment and dedication.
Boris’s previous political appearances were pretty shambolic. But he has shown enthusiasm and a genuine desire for the London job - while Ken has looked tired and on the defensive. (see Bori’s final election video)
Defeat on May 1 would be a huge disappointment for the Tories. But one thing is certain: Boris will be back as a front-line politician alongside Cameron in the run up to the next general election.
See Boris Johnson’s final Party Election Broadcast here: http://www.backboris.com/video/28_04_08_peb.php

What do Paris, Berlin, San Franciso and Toronto all have in common? Their mayors are all fans of Ken Livingstone and want to see him back in City Hall on May 2.
The Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, actually joined Livingstone on the campaign trail at the weekend. He said mayors of 40 world cities recently got together to tackle climate change and they needed “Ken to stay in that team”.
Berlin’s Mayor, Klaus Wowereit, praised Livingstone’s leadership in breaking new ground with radical policies to improve public transport, while Gavin Newson of San Francisco said it had been a pleasure to work with a fellow mayor who put into practice the values of tolerance and celebrating diversity.
David Miller of Toronto said Livingstone’s vision and commitment had established London as a global leader in the fight against climate change, demonstrating how their cities could reduce greenhouse gas emissions.