IT IS 8pm on Friday night and the talk is already of Ken s demise and the accession of Boris. It seems the juggernaut of voters disaffected with Gordon Brown has taken its toll on the flamboyant left-winger. Except that juggernaut didn t quite bulldoze

IT IS 8pm on Friday night and the talk is already of Ken's demise and the accession of Boris.

It seems the juggernaut of voters disaffected with Gordon Brown has taken its toll on the flamboyant left-winger. Except that juggernaut didn't quite bulldoze the whole of the city. It looks as though the 'Boris effect' bypassed the leafy streets of my part of North London, where Ken did better than everyone expected.

As I went down to vote in one of Haringey's modernist 1960s public buildings I found myself queuing - yes queuing - to vote, as my left-leaning, liberal-minded neighbours turned out in droves to register their votes in a last ditch attempt to stop Boris.

I'm not sure whether they were anti-Boris or pro-Ken, but the result was the same - Ken seems to have maintained his love affair with North London.

So what is it that attracts us to Ken? Is it his rebellious streak, his constant string of off-the-wall remarks or is it just the fact that he seems to genuinely love being a Londoner?

Or maybe we just rebelled - angered after reading in the Evening Standard on our way home that Boris was already our new Mayor, long before the ballot boxes had even closed.

Ken has been described as many things - an enigma and visionary by his fans, a power-hungry corrupt politician by his detractors, - but there is no denying he is a passionate Londoner - a man who genuinely cares for the city in which we all live.

London is a unique, amazing and vibrant city. It deserves a leader that too is unique and amazing.

Whether it now has one - only time will tell.

Sue Vasey