Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate in London, signalled last night that he would consider a job with Boris Johnson in a Tory administration but ruled out any role with Ken Livingstone.

But Mr Paddick said that nothing could induce him to urge his supporters to assign their second preference votes to either the Tory candidate or Mr Livingstone.

“I just don’t trust Ken Livingstone,” Mr Paddick, 49, said. “The thought of having him as my boss sends shivers down my spine.”

He added: “I think Ken is getting very tired and is running out of ideas and as a consequence he is allowing his unelected team of advisers to dictate what happens in London. He is no longer engaging with the men and women in the street.” Although Mr Paddick insisted that he would not direct Lib Dem voters to Mr Johnson, he left open the possibility of working with him if the Tory candidate became mayor.

When questioned about rumours that Mr Johnson may be prepared to offer Mr Paddick the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Mr Paddick would only say: “He hasn’t put it to me.”

Second preference votes are expected to play a crucial part in the London mayoral election as each of the main candidates is unlikely to win the 50 per cent share of the vote needed for outright victory.

Mr Livingstone and the Green Party have already struck a pact urging their supporters to join forces in an attempt to defeat Mr Johnson. The Green Party leader, Siân Berry, asked those who planned to vote for her on May 1 to pick Mr Livingstone as their No 2 choice. The mayor has urged his voters to put the Green Party candidate second.

Recent polls suggest Mr Paddick will gain the largest proportion of second preference votes from voters. With the two main candidates neck and neck, an endorsement from the Lib Dem candidate may swing the election for one of them.

Mr Paddick, who lives in Vauxhall, South London, said: “The way democracy works is this: you have different candidates and they try and convince the electorate that they are the best candidate. As far as who people vote for after that candidate, that’s a matter for them.”

During his 30-year career with the police, Mr Paddick hit the headlines in 2000 when he was made police commander for Lambeth and told officers not to charge people found with cannabis. Otherwise, he argued, officers would spend all their time on paperwork for minor misdeeds, which could be spent looking for heroin and cocaine suppliers.

In the same year, Mr Paddick came out as gay. Yesterday he told The Times that he plans to have a civil partnership with his long-term partner, Petter, a civil engineer from Norway, after the election.

The tabloid press still refers to Mr Paddick as the “Cannabis Cop” after his time in Lambeth. He says he has never taken drugs.

Mr Paddick hopes his experience in the police will convince Londoners worried about crime to vote for him. Commenting on figures released last week which showed a rise in black-on-black gun crime in London, Mr Paddick said: “What we are seeing here is a falling away of trust and confidence in the police and, as a consequence, the police are not being as successful as they once were around Operation Trident [the Metropolitan Police unit which investigates guncrime in the black community].

“The police have got to realise that in order to win the support of the public they have got to concentrate on those matters which are most important to local people and not relentlessly pursue government targets, in order to gain points on the league tables.”

George Galloway will split the vote in the London Assembly elections, according to the Left List mayoral candidate (Helen Nugent writes).

Lindsey German, who is standing for the Left List, believes that Mr Galloway, the Respect MP for Bethnal Green, may have damaged her party’s chances of election.

The problems date back to last summer when Mr Galloway and Ms German parted company and Mr Galloway founded Respect Renewal. Although Ms German believes that voters have been quick to learn about the Left List and its policies, she says there is still some confusion.

“In a way, it’s not very responsible [of him],” Ms German said, adding that a split vote could allow the BNP to gain a seat.

Despite Ken Livingstone having struck a deal with the Green Party for his second preference votes, Ms German said that she would still urge her supporters to put him as their second choice. However, she is critical of the mayor’s record.

“I think that we do need a left alternative to Livingstone or any of the other candidates. I have many areas of agreement with Ken but I also have many disagreements.

“Ken’s problem is that he is quite unpopular and, much more importantly for him, the Labour Government is desperately unpopular and that will affect him.”

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