May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson, a Conservative member of Parliament and journalist, defeated Ken Livingstone to become mayor of London, completing a drubbing for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party in mid-term elections.

Johnson got 48.4 percent of the total vote to Livingstone's 42.6 percent, election authorities said late yesterday. Turnout was 45 percent, compared with 37 percent four years ago.

Johnson, 43, clashed with Livingstone, the mayor since 2000, over crime in western Europe's biggest city and an investigation into alleged misuse of City Hall funds. His victory further undermined Brown, whose first electoral test as prime minister resulted in Labour's worst performance in at least four decades in local elections in England and Wales.

``I do not for one minute believe that this election shows that London has been transformed overnight into a Conservative city,'' said Johnson, whose television quiz-show appearances have made him one of the country's best-known politicians, after the results of the May 1 voting were read out in City Hall. ``But I do hope it does show that the Conservatives have changed into a party that can again be trusted.''

Johnson asked Livingstone to work with him, and Livingstone said he would do ``all I can to help the new administration in whatever way it seeks.''

Labour Trailing

Johnson will take up the responsibility of running the U.K.'s capital city, which accounts for a quarter of Britain's economy and vies with New York as the world's leading financial center. He is meeting with transport and police commissioners today and will be having discussions, he said, with ``people who I hope will be joining my team.''

Brown's party has trailed the Conservative opposition in polls all year as the pace of economic growth slowed to its lowest since 2005. House prices fell the most in more than three years in April.

Voters ousted Labour in nine of the 159 local councils that had elections on May 1 while the Conservatives took control of 12 authorities. British Broadcasting Corp. projections estimated Labour's share of the vote at 24 percent compared with 44 percent for the Conservatives.

Those contests, for about 4,000 of the 22,000 officials in local government in England and Wales, reduced the number of Labour officials by 331 and increased the number of Conservatives in local government by 256.

`Nail in the Coffin'

``It's another nail in the coffin of Gordon Brown,'' Greig Baker, research director at the polling company ComRes, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``It's going to give momentum'' to the Conservatives, he said.

Labour losses extended deep into their traditional heartlands including the council of Blaenau Gwent in Wales, the same district represented by Aneurin Bevan, the minister who created Britain's cradle-to-grave health and welfare benefit system after World War II. In London, Livingstone blamed only himself for the party's defeat.

``I am sorry I couldn't get that extra few percentage points that would take us to victory,'' Livingstone said. ``The fault for that is solely my own. You can't be mayor for eight years and then if you don't win that third term say it was somebody else's fault. I accept that responsibility.''

The defeat in London suggests Labour is losing support that it will need to retain power in 2010. ``Labour needs to win London to win the general election,'' said Peter Laugharne, professor of government at London Metropolitan University.

`Huge Victory'

``It's a huge victory for the Conservatives,'' Laugharne said. ``Until now, the mayoralty has been inextricably linked with Ken Livingstone.''

Johnson, who represents Henley, west of London, in Parliament, was educated at Eton College and Oxford University, which he attended along with Conservative leader David Cameron, 41. Cameron's Conservatives and Brown's Labour Party will square off in a national election that Brown must call by June 2010 at the latest.

Taking the top job in London will boost the Conservative Party's organization in the U.K. capital, which has a population of 7.5 million. London has been a parliamentary stronghold for Labour, which won 44 of the city's 74 seats at the 2005 general election.

While the contests don't directly affect Brown's command in Parliament, the loss of local councilors in England and Wales may damage his chances in the general election by narrowing the base of party activists throughout the country.

Support Eroded

The bookmaker Ladbrokes now has the Conservatives as favorite to win the general election at odds of 1 to 2, it said in an e-mailed statement, meaning a bet of two pounds ($4) will bring a one pound profit. Labour is at 6 to 4.

Labour has lost seats at every local election since Tony Blair swept the party into government in 1997. Blair handed power to Brown in June, and, after a brief honeymoon, Labour's poll ratings went into reverse.

``It's clear to me that this has been a disappointing night, indeed a bad night for Labour,'' Brown told a news conference at his Downing Street residence yesterday. ``People want to be assured that the government will steer them through these difficult economic times.

``The test of leadership is not what happens in a period of success, but what happens in difficult circumstances. We are going to listen and to lead,'' he said. Brown, who is spending the weekend at his country retreat, will start by appearing on TV political talk shows tomorrow.

`Punish Us'

``We all share the responsibility,'' Justice Secretary Jack Straw said in a BBC radio interview today. ``People wanted to punish us up for our mistakes.''

The Conservatives doubled their poll lead over Labour to 14 percentage points last month following a furor over a budget change that left 5.3 million of the nation's poorest households worse off. The decision sparked a revolt by Brown's own lawmakers.

``The possibility that the Conservatives might win the general election is no longer inconceivable,'' said John Curtice, a professor of politics at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

In London, Johnson is likely to delegate more than Livingstone, who made decisions with a small group of advisers.

``Boris Johnson has been talking about setting up a cabinet government for London, bringing in people who have expertise in particular areas, with him being a kind of strategic cheerleader,'' said James Morris, director of the London Policy Institute, a research group.

Retain Administrators?

Johnson has said he may retain Transport for London executives including Commissioner Peter Hendy, and London Underground Managing Director Tim O'Toole.

Livingstone, 62, said during this contest that he was in ``the political fight of my life.''

Today, as he left his home to go to City Hall, he said: ``I'd rather Boris succeeded than be able to say 'I told you so.'''

His defeat marked ``the end of an era'' because he was the ``most dominant London politician'' of his generation, said Tony Travers, a government expert at the London School of Economics.

Livingstone, a London politician since 1973 and like Johnson well-known around Britain, was nicknamed ``Red Ken'' by the U.K.'s tabloid newspapers in the 1980s, when he ran the Greater London Council.

`Marxist Cabal'

The council, the city's government at the time, was abolished by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986, after battles with Livingstone over issues such as London Underground fares and his positioning of a counter showing London's rising unemployment figures on County Hall, the GLC headquarters, across the Thames from Parliament. The mayor's office was created in 2000 by then-Prime Minister Blair.

Johnson promised to ``sweep out'' Livingstone's ``Marxist cabal'' and to end waste and ``sleaze'' in City Hall, a reference to a police investigation into whether community groups misused or stole grant money provided by Livingstone's administration.

Livingstone said neither he nor his aides acted improperly, though he conceded the issue had damaged his campaign.

Johnson, who will serve a four-year term, also said the city had become less safe under Livingstone and promised to hire more police and provide them with mobile metal detectors. Twenty-seven youths were killed in London last year in gun and knife attacks, the most in at least five years, and many in gang-related incidents.

He supports some of Livingstone's initiatives, including an 8-pound daily traffic-congestion charge and free bus travel for young and elderly people. He would scrap Livingstone's plan to triple to 25 pounds the daily charge on the most-polluting vehicles and would reconsider the extension of the zone's boundaries to west London, which occurred last year.

His election was welcomed by Richard Lambert, the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, in an e-mailed statement. Lambert, who also paid tribute to Livingstone, said Johnson will bring ``vigor and enthusiasm'' to the job.

``It is important the mayor continues to protect and promote the city's strengths, as well as address its weaknesses, particularly skills, infrastructure and transport,'' he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Lysaght in London at blysaght@bloomberg.net; Thomas Penny in London tpenny@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 3, 2008 11:25 EDT