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EXCEPT for the overabundance of ags run up by the prime minister across Whitehall last week they were white for St George not for surrender you wouldn't know that the capital, and the country, stand on the edge of a political precipice.
Both Gordon Brown and David Cameron will be waiting on the result of this Thursday's London mayoral election with bated breath. It is their first electoral test as leaders and the outcome could decide their fate as much as it settles the future of bendy buses on London's streets.
The latest opinion poll gives Labour's Ken Livingstone a narrow lead on 41-per cent with the Conservative Boris Johnson three points behind. With the second preference votes distributed, Livingstone is due to win under this forecast, but with a slew of other polls reading the election the other way it's time for psephologists to consult the real experts the betting shops.
Right now the odds favour Johnson, the Billy Bunter caricature turned presidential material by a highly disciplined campaign team. Johnson, who hasn't been allowed to open his mouth to put his habitual foot into it for the past six months, has been rewarded with electoral credibility. He's taken the Tory campaign from nowhere and now he is 8-15 on to win. My gambling friend explains this means you would get GBP8 back for every GBP15 you put on.
As...