Colorful mayoral race grips London

RED KEN VERSUS WITTY CONSERVATIVE BORIS JOHNSON AND A GAY FORMER COP:

The incumbent buys London's bus fuel from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and raises newts for fun. The challenger is a conservative product of England's snootiest schools who has made a career out of wit and a startling squall of white-blond hair.

Both use language with the artful lethality of Muhammad Ali's fists, yet each has a remarkable knack for sticking his foot in his mouth.

And if London voters can't decide between Mayor Ken Livingstone and challenger Boris Johnson in the May 1 election for the city's top office, they can always opt for Brian Paddick, a gay former police commander whose chief campaign supporter is Elton John.

... Recently, Livingstone has been stung by allegations that a top aide steered hundreds of thousands of development dollars to groups run by his friends, and that much of that money is unaccounted for. Police are investigating.

Last year, Livingstone struck a deal with Chavez to buy cut-rate fuel for London's buses in exchange for expert advice on improving Venezuela's urban planning. Criticized for dealing with Chavez, Livingstone told reporters: "Frankly, I'd rather be getting into bed with him than, as the British government has been, getting into bed with George W. Bush."

Livingstone once called Bush "the greatest threat to life on this planet" and described the U.S. ambassador to Britain as a "chiseling little crook" for failing to require U.S. Embassy employees to pay the congestion charge.

Asked in an interview about his preference in the current U.S. presidential election, Livingstone said, "Having lived through the horrors of the last eight years, we'd be happy if it was Mickey Mouse."

Livingstone, who is strongly pro-Palestinian, once said the people of Saudi Arabia would be better off when "the Saudi royal family are swinging from lampposts."

I HOPE RED KEN LOSES.