Boris: loved by Italian skiers - not so much by Londoners

A SECOND opinion poll has confirmed that London Mayor Boris Johnson has fallen behind his arch-rival Ken Livingstone in the race to rule the capital. But should Johnson lose the mayoral race in May, he might want to consider running for office in Italy, after being the subject of a glowing tribute written by an Italian whose son was flattened by the mayor on the slopes of a ski resort.

The Guardian reports that Francesco Zucchi was so taken with Johnson's behaviour after the mayor crashed into his son in heavy fog in the Italian Alps that he was moved to write a letter to Corriere della Sera.

Johnson "didn't stop saying sorry and taking the blame for a second, embarrassing me to the point that I made my son say, in broken English, 'No problem, not your fault'", wrote Zucchi, who went on to compare Italy's elected officials unfavourably with the London mayor.

"Will it ever be possible to have in Italy rulers possessed of political weight and intelligence combined with simplicity and decency in their everyday life?" he asked.

Sadly for Boris, his political weight appears to be on the wane in London, where a poll for the Evening Standard has found he trails Labour's Ken Livingstone by 51 to 49 per cent. The latest survey confirms the two-point deficit suggested by a YouGov poll less than a week ago and is a shocking reversal of fortune for a man who enjoyed a lead of eight per cent as recently as November.

As the Mole reported, the turnaround in Boris's fortunes is mainly down to Ken's recent pledge to reverse fare increases on London transport. Yet according to the latest poll, 39 per cent of Londoners do not believe Ken can keep his fares pledge.

That, and the fact that 46 per cent of Londoners expect Boris to win the 3 May mayoral election - compared to 24 per cent who think Ken will win - suggests the fight is far from over. ·