Ken on back foot as all signs point to Boris

Ken Livingstone's team launched a frantic last-minute bid to stay in the race for City Hall today, as all signs started to point towards Boris Johnson.

Bookies Paddy Power started paying out on Boris after a flood of bets made the Tory an almost unbackable 1/12 winner.

In the final 24 hours before the payout, 94% of money taken by the firm was for Boris.

Amid gloomy poll ratings, the Labour leadership launched a last-minute intervention to frame Boris as just a typical Tory – a message backed by widespread adverts depicting Boris, David Cameron and George Osborne as blue aliens.

Ed Miliband told the Independent: "He tries not to be seen in public with David Cameron and most of his election literature makes no reference to him being the Conservative candidate.

"But Boris Johnson has proven to be a typical Tory as mayor, raising fares, cutting services and standing up only for the powerful or wealthy in London.

"He led the campaign for a tax cut for millionaires in the Budget. He even wanted to go further than George Osborne by reducing the rate for those earning £150,000 a year not just to 45p, but to 40p."

Labour HQ is concerned that a Boris win in London will overshadow widespread council gains and allow the government to recover from a torrid six weeks of negative headlines.

Meanwhile, Ken appealed to Londoners' pockets, with a pledge to save them 1,000 via his proposed fares cut.

"The only guarantee you get with Tory Boris Johnson would be another four years of above-inflation fare increases," he said.

"Why else would the Tory Mayor refuse to reveal any details of his fares policy if he wasn't planning a huge fare hike?"

As Ken fought to wipe out Boris' lead – which some polls put in the double figures – he was also engaged in an offensive to secure Liberal Democrat votes, with an email to thousands of Lib Dem voters asking them to give him their second preference vote.

In 2008, Ken secured 237,000 of his 303,000 second preference votes from Brian Paddick supporters, despite the candidate refusing to tell his supports to lend the Labour candidate their support.

Mr Paddick instead spent his time appealing to left-wing voters to desert Ken and offer him their first preference votes.

"Inequality has been a way of life for too long in London," the Lib Dem candidate said.

"Some of the most deprived places in the United Kingdom are just a stone's throw from the biggest financial centre in Europe.

"I don't believe in placing a limit on people's ambitions but I do believe in a floor beneath which people cannot be allowed to drop."

London goes to the polls tomorrow.