TORY mayoral candidate Boris Johnson is ahead of rival Ken Livingstone in the race to be London Mayor, according to a new opinion poll.

The YouGov March survey of 1,005 of the capital's adults for the Evening Standard put Mr Johnson on 49 per cent - 12 points ahead of current Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Mr Livingstone polled 37 per cent, with Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick came in third place on 12 per cent. Other hopefuls polled 3 per cent.

YouGov questioned the individuals online between March 12 and 14.

London voters are expected to have a field of at least 13 candidates to pick from for mayor.

While nominations do not close for another 10 days, candidates from the main Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties are expected to be joined by others including the Greens, UKIP and Croydon independent Winston McKenzie, as well as those standing on stop the congestion charge' and one London' platforms.

The Mayoral candidates so far are:

Alan Craig, Christian Peoples Alliance and the Christian Party

Boris Johnson, Conservatives

Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrats

Chris Prior, Stop the Congestion Charge

Damian Hockney, One London

Dennis Delderfield, New Britain

Gerard Batten, UKIP

Ken Livingstone, Labour

Lindsey German, Respect

Matt O'Connor, English Democrats

Richard Barnbrook, BNP

Sian Berry, Green

Winston McKenzie,