It wasn't the Standard that won it claims Gilligan

With the result of the London mayoral contest going the way of Boris Johnson,there will be many commentators who will be saying,it was the Standard that won it.

The statement harks back to the Sun's of the 1992 general election.

In today's Independent,the man behind the headlines, Andrew Gilligan,defends his actions saying that he was merely highlighting the problems of Ken's administration

What the Standard can claim is this. Firstly, in the same way as Boris brought together an existing anti-Ken majority, our investigations into Lee Jasper and the missing millions crystallised many Londoners' existing doubts about Livingstone.

adding

they were factual and measured, thoroughly and transparently sourced, widely followed-up, had important real consequences, such as resignations and arrests, and have of course never, in any specific particular, been denied.

According to Gilligan,Livingstone was given the right of reply,something that he failed to take up

We gave Ken six days to answer our questions before publishing. Five months on there are still no answers. Instead, to our incredulity, he unleashed a barrage of abuse against me and the paper that confirmed not just our stories, but the fears about him

So was Ken simply defeated by the national backlash against the party and the Standard played its part by putting his administration under scrutiny.I am sure this will be featuring in future editions of media studies books