March 31 (Bloomberg) -- London mayoral candidate Boris Johnson has held his lead over incumbent Ken Livingstone, according to a survey published in the Evening Standard.

The latest YouGov Plc poll shows Johnson 10 percentage points ahead of Livingstone, a member of the U.K.'s ruling Labour Party, the Standard reported today. Johnson, 43, a Conservative member of Parliament and Daily Telegraph columnist, was favored by 47 percent of Londoners who took part in the online survey, compared with Livingstone's 37 percent, the newspaper said. Johnson's lead over the mayor was 12 points in a March 17 poll.

The other main contender, the Liberal Democrats' Brian Paddick, 49, a former police commander, was backed by 10 percent of the 1,051 people questioned by YouGov in the March 20-25 survey, the Standard reported. The poll's margin of error wasn't provided.

YouGov's March 17 poll showed Livingstone, 62, trailing for the first time in a mayoral race. The winner will run the city of 7.5 million residents and direct its 11 billion-pound ($22 billion) annual budget as the economy slows and preparations begin for the 2012 Olympic Games.

To contact the reporter on this story: Camilla Hall in London at chall24@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 31, 2008 07:35 EDT