Norris: This gives me a boost

Steven Norris today celebrated winning the Tory nomination for Mayor and claimed the congestion charge would help propel him into City Hall.

He said voters would turn away from Ken Livingstone as it became clear that the scheme was flawed and unworkable.

After the former transport minister was declared the runaway winner in the Conservative selection contest, he went straight into campaign mode with visits to protests against the £5 charge.

He said: "This scheme is terribly badly designed and it will be a disaster. It is a typical Livingstone gesture, founded on an entirely unjustified proposition that it is proper to hate people who drive cars. Ken is now damaged goods and the congestion charge will only add to that."

If elected, Mr Norris has pledged to scrap the charge even though he supports road-user charging and may reintroduce it later in a different form.

In a postal ballot among 32,000 Tory members in London, Mr Norris stormed home against London Assembly member Roger Evans, polling 12,160 votes to his rival's 3,637 in results announced yesterday.

Mr Norris singled out crime as the most important issue for voters, and pledged to introduce New York-style zero tolerance policing with a clampdown on graffiti and litter louts.

Latest polls show Mr Norris closing the gap on Mr Livingstone, with Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes a strong third if selected.