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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - London's rumpled, comic and often outright offensive Boris Johnson has been declared the winner of a surprisingly close mayoral race in the British capital.

The election results confirmed late Friday install Johnson, a Conservative, as the unpredictable host of the upcoming 2012 Olympics.

Known best for his shock of blond hair, and sometimes shocking outbursts, Johnson's victory was a bright spot on a rough day for his colleagues in Prime Minister David Cameron's governing Conservative Party, who took a drubbing in local elections as voters punished them for biting austerity measures and Britain's stalled economy.

Johnson narrowly beat out Labour's Ken Livingstone, his leftist predecessor as mayor.