With just over 100 days until the election on May 3, support for current Mayor, Johnson, has gone down by ten points.

The poll, for the Evening Standard, London Tonight and LBC, shows Livingstone with a 51 to 49 lead.

Tony Travers of London School of Economics said: “This looks like a knife edge contest. Boris Johnson now needs to fight back.”

The poll found that 46 per cent of Londoners would back Labour candidate Livingstone, 44 would vote for the current Tory leader, Johnson, and five per cent support Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick.

Johnson’s transport policies, especially fare increases, have proved unpopular with some, but he is ahead when it comes to crime and the economy.

Livingstone however is thought to better understand the needs of “ordinary” Londoners.

Johnson gets more support in the outer London suburbs, but Livingstone is more popular in inner London.

The Green Party’s candidate, Jenny Jones, received three per cent in the poll.

LBC presenter Nick Ferrari: “Boris Johnson needs to get his eye back on the ball and his head out of the clouds. Banging on endlessly about an airport on the river while people are furious about fare increases could leave him up the estuary without a paddle.”

This is the second opinion poll in which Livingstone has come out with a lead over Johnson – last week’s YouGov poll also showed Livingstone with a two-point lead.

The figures suggest that May’s Mayoral election will be the closest so far.

But despite the figures, most Londoners still expect Johnson to win the election.