Mayor elect of London Boris Johnson in a speech at City Hall vows to fight
crime in London and calls for unity after defeating Ken Livingstone. 

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 2, 2008) ITN -

Boris Johnson, fresh from being elected London's first Conservative
mayor, pledged on Saturday (May 3) to tackle crime and teenage delinquency as
he prepared to replace Labour's Ken Livingstone in City Hall. 
    Hours after results confirmed that Johnson had defeated the
long-serving Livingstone in Thursday's election, Johnson marched into City
Hall, surrounded by a throng of cameramen and photographers, to sign the
declaration of acceptance of office. 
    Before Johnson's arrival at City Hall, Livingstone came in to clear his
desk. 
    Johnson does not officially become mayor until Monday (May 5) but was
busy talking to advisers and selecting his team. 
    In a speech, Johnson said he planned to have an extra 50,000 affordable
homes built in the capital and to focus on tackling crime. 
    He also made a plea for unity in the city after a fiercely contested
campaign. 
    "I want to build on the achievements of the last administration
and I want us all to put aside any personal, personal rancour, pronounced
correctly, or feelings of ideological, any ideological disputes we may
have," he said, 
    "Let's all put them aside and work together to build on the very
considerable achievements of the last Mayor of London and make sure that we
create a London that is greater still." 
    Johnson is now in charge of an 11 billion pound budget covering public
transport, police and fire services in a city of some 7.5 million people. 
    He is set to have meetings with key figures in the capital, including
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. 
    Over the next four years Johnson will also oversee preparations for the
2012 Olympic Games and be responsible for promoting policies on housing, the
environment and the economy in Europe's biggest financial centre. 
    Johnson's victory added to Conservative delight at pushing Labour to
its worst performance on record in local elections elsewhere in England and
Wales on Friday.