The result of the election -- held on 4 May -- was a foregone conclusion : Dobson , who it was alleged , had been pressured into running by the party leadership , unsuccessfully based his campaign on claims that Livingstone was an egomaniac , and the Conservatives remained becalmed after their catastrophic national defeat in 1997 . The result of the election was a Livingstone victory : Dobson , who it was alleged , had been pressured into running by the party leadership , unsuccessfully based his campaign on claims that Livingstone was an egomaniac , and the Conservatives remained becalmed after their catastrophic national defeat in 1997 .