Labor Party Voting for London Mayor Closes
Voting closed Wednesday in the race for the Labor Party’s candidate for London mayor, a competition that pits party leaders’ chosen candidate against a man whose victory could be their political nightmare.
The results will not be announced before Saturday.
The idea of the party’s candidacy going to left-wing lawmaker Ken Livingstone has worried Prime Minister Tony Blair’s centrist Labor government.
Labor has engineered an electoral college that gives Health Minister Frank Dobson a running start.
The college is almost equally divided among lawmakers who are mostly Blair loyalists, rank-and-file party members and trade unionists.
If Livingstone or Dobson fails to win outright, votes for the candidate running third will be allocated according to the second preference of that candidate’s supporters.
London’s first elected mayor will oversee a $5.3-billion budget and have responsibilities that include the police, transportation, fire and emergency services and promoting the capital.
Labor’s candidate will run against Stephen Norris of the opposition Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer in the May 4 election.
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