Ken Livingstone is on course to be re-elected mayor of London next spring, according to a new poll.

The MORI survey found that when respondents were asked to name their first preference for mayor, Livingstone got 40 per cent of the votes, Conservative Stephen Norris 27 and Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat candidate, 16.

Nicky Gavron, the official Labour candidate, secured just 12 per cent.