The left-wing Labour MP, Mr Ken Livingstone, was keeping the party leadership guessing last night over whether he would stand as an Independent candidate in the elections for mayor of London, as two opinion polls showed massive support for such a move among London voters.
As Mr Livingstone dodged the essential question on what his next move would be, promising only that he would "listen to Londoners", a poll conducted for Carlton Television's London Tonight programme showed 93 per cent of people believed the MP should stand as an Independent candidate. And highlighting a general belief among London voters that the electoral college system adopted by Labour to select its candidate was weighted in favour of Mr Frank Dobson, 61 per cent of people responding to an Evening Standard poll said Mr Livingstone should stand as an Independent.
Among those questioned by ICM for the Evening Standard, 53 per cent said the electoral college rules prevented Mr Livingstone from winning the candidacy, with only 15 per cent saying they thought Mr Dobson had won the election fairly. Perhaps even more worrying for the leadership was that the poll showed if Mr Livingstone were to stand against Mr Dobson, 50 per cent would support the left-wing MP, with only 22 per cent saying they would support Mr Dobson. If Mr Livingstone did not stand, however, the poll showed that Mr Dobson would win the mayoral election with 44 per cent support with the Conservative candidate, Mr Steve Norris, coming second with 27 per cent.
But while the opinion polls made comfortable reading for Mr Livingstone, throughout the day senior Labour figures increased the pressure on him to accept the electoral college result and support Mr Dobson's candidacy.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, began the campaign by calling on Mr Livingstone to stop "whining" about the electoral college system and accept the outcome. "Any candidate accepts, before they go into the election, that they will be elected by that procedure," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One. "At the end of the day it is the system that elected the leader and myself, the deputy leader. It was something that was agreed by all candidates, signed up for, and we now have a result."
And he warned that if Mr Livingstone, or any other Labour member, campaigned against Mr Dobson, they could face expulsion from the party. "If they stand against an official Labour candidate selected by the party, then that is what could happen to them," he said. There were further warnings that the party would not tolerate any dissent from Mr Livingstone when the chairman of the Greater London Labour Party, Mr Jim Fitzpatrick, reminded the MP of his mayoral election pledge: "I am sure that Ken recognises that his pledge to remain a loyal party member was the foundation of the high level of support he gained from trade union and party members."
On his first day as Labour's official mayoral candidate, Mr Dobson's engagements were overshadowed by questions about Mr Livingstone. At a celebratory lunch in London, there was little talk about his future policy; instead the focus was on Mr Livingstone's next move. For his part, Mr Dobson was bullish, insisting he was not Mr Blair's "poodle" and he said he expected Mr Livingstone to "stick by his word" and not stand as an Independent.
Earlier, the Conservative candidate, Mr Norris, said he did not believe Mr Livingstone could win the mayoral election even if he decided to stand as an Independent candidate. "There's not much chance for poor old Ken", he said. "He's been shafted by the party."