BORIS Johnson is set to retain his position as Mayor of London by the same margin as 2008.

The final poll by YouGov for the Evening Standard, published last night, predicts a Boris Johnson win by 53 per cent to 47 per cent in a run-off.

With counting now underway and a result expected this evening, the poll predicts Tory Mr Johnson leading Labour’s Ken Livingstone by 43per cent to 38 per cent in first choice votes with Lib Dem Brian Paddick a distant third on seven per cent, down from the 10 per cent he polled last time.

YouGov predicts labour will gain three seats on the 25-strong London Assembly with 11, while the Conservatives will lose three, according to YouGov’s predictions.

The pollsters also reckon the Lib Dems and the BNP will lose a seat each, that UKIP will gain two and the Greens will hold on to their pair.

YouGov said the poll is so close it cannot rule out the Lib Dems coming fifth.

YouGov attributes the reason for the Mayoral result as the “Boris Labour” vote with one in ten people saying they would vote Labour in a general election but intended to vote for Boris yesterday.

Another one in ten said they would vote for neither.

Follow reporter Jim Palmer's election results liveblog this evening at newsshopper.co.uk/elections2012