Sir Alan Sugar: Mayor job is a walk in the park

Sir Alan Sugar declared that being Mayor of London would be a "walk in the park" today after an Evening Standard poll showed he was the voters' choice to beat Boris Johnson.

The Amstrad tycoon and Labour donor has support among Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat voters and across all ages and social classes, our YouGov survey found.

Sir Alan, currently on TV telling BBC's Apprentice hopefuls "you're fired", would get a "you're hired" verdict should he decide to stand for City Hall.

The poll shows that if the businessman stood as an independent he would win 40 per cent of the vote, compared with 32 per cent for Mr Johnson.

The pair immediately locked horns in the wake of the poll, with Sir Alan criticising the Mayor's record and Mr Johnson issuing a defiant "I fear no man" message.

The poll for the Standard and ITV London Tonight also suggests Mr Johnson is still enjoying a honeymoon period and would easily beat Ken Livingstone in a re-run of last year's election.

In a statement in response to the survey, Sir Alan today hinted that he would only run for Mayor if the media refrained from exploring conflicts of interest between the GLA and his various property and technology businesses.

Sir Alan said: "The poll is very flattering. I have no idea what the duties of the London Mayor entail but in observing the past Mayor Livingstone and Boris the current one, I am confident that it would be a walk in the park for me.

"There is a major practical problem which is a conflict of interest that would exist between my various businesses and that of the business of London. It would be cannon fodder to the media every time one of my companies sneezed, so regretfully and at a great loss to Londoners and a mischievous media my appointment is not practical — unless of course the media were to agree to behave themselves. No chance, I guess."

Mr Johnson made clear he would relish the chance to take on another high-profile contender. He said: "I fear no man — or woman. Obviously it will be a tough fight whoever puts it up.

"If Alan Sugar is to be my nemesis then so be it. Bring it on. The bigger the field the better." The Mayor refused to write off Ken Livingstone, despite the poll showing he now had a 16-point lead over his former rival. "You never write off Ken Livingstone. I pay tribute to him. He took this office and raised it to the level of national importance it needs to be."

Young voters in particular support Sir Alan, who pulls in 41 per cent of 18-34 year-olds compared with Mr Johnson's 28 per cent. Higher-paid voters narrowly back Sir Alan, but semi-skilled and manual workers give him a big lead.

Sources close to Mr Livingstone claimed the poll showed he was still the only Labour candidate capable of coming close to Mr Johnson and outpolled Labour nationally. If the race were run again now, Mr Johnson would nearly treble his lead against Mr Livingstone, with the backing of 49 per cent of voters against Mr Livingstone's 33 per cent. Just nine per cent were "don't knows".

Yet when asked how Mr Johnson would fare against any other unnamed Labour candidate, the results are more mixed. The Mayor then gets 38 per cent to Labour's 24 per cent, but 28 per cent "don't know" who they would back.

Unlike his predecessor, Mr Johnson has not commissioned monthly opinion polls to measure his performance and today's poll gives the first measure of since he swept to power last May. Of the 1,067 polled, 46 per cent are "satisfied" with the way he has done his job, compared with 21 per cent "dissatisfied". Just four per cent are "don't knows".

On helping the capital in the downturn, more Londoners think the Mayor has performed badly than well — 39 per cent think he has performed badly, compared to 37 per cent who have been impressed. Mr Johnson said: "In the next 18 months we will be able to do much more. We're going to have a time and it's our job to help people through it."

The poll gives David Cameron a huge lead in the capital and predicts Labour MPs will lose a swathe of seats in a general election.