London's new mayor Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson, right, makes a speech as the outgoing mayor Labour Party candidate Ken Livingstone, left, listens after the results were announced at City Hall in London, in the early hours of Saturday, May 3, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Britain's Labour Party was dealt a heavy blow in local elections and lost control of London on Friday.

    Conservative Boris Johnson, a journalist-turned-lawmaker prone to gaffes, wrested the prized post of London mayor from Labour's maverick Ken Livingstone, who has run the sprawling metropolis of some 7.5 million people since 2000.

    The election results were a major blow to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who enjoyed a brief honeymoon with voters after he took over from Tony Blair, but has since been beset by economic turmoil, industrial unrest and an image problem.

    Brown assured the public that the government "had listened" and would "move forward" to "steer them through these difficult times."

    "The test of leadership is not what happens in a period of success but what happens in difficult circumstances," Brown noted.

    David Cameron, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, hailed the result as "a vote of positive confidence in the Conservative Party," and "a very big moment" for the Tories.

    "I want us to really prove to people that we can make the changes they want to see. That's what I'm going to devote myself and my party to doing over the next few months," he said.

    (Xinhua+agencies)