Mary Reid

London Elects give impartial information about the London elections next Thursday.

Today I received their booklet. Don't throw it away when it arrives - it actually has some helpful advice. If you've already sent off a postal vote then you know all this anyway!

On May 1st, at the polling station you'll be given three ballot papers.

The pink ballot paper

This one is for the Mayor of London. There are ten candidates on the paper, though one of them, Matt O'Connor has now withdrawn.

You can make a first and a second choice. That means that you can choose the person you really want to be Mayor as your first choice.

All these first preferences will be added up. If one candidate gets more than 50% then that person has won. It is much more likely that no-one will reach 50%, so the top two will go forward to the next stage.

You can also mark your second choice of candidate. If your first choice is not one of the top two, your second choice will be added in now.

For the second choice you have to do a bit of tactical thinking. You have to decide who is likely to get through to this stage (other than your first choice candidate) and then chose the one you would prefer to be Mayor.

It's clear that the only candidates with a chance of getting into the final two are Brian Paddick, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnston.

It's no surprise to you that my first choice will be Brian Paddick. I'm still not decided about my second choice, but I know it has to be Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnston, or I can leave it blank.

The yellow  ballot paper

This is a bit easier.

It's a simple 'first past the post' election for the London Assembly member for South West London.

I'm voting for Stephen Knight, the Liberal Democrat, who only requires a 1.3% swing to unseat the Conservative, Tony Arbour.

The peach ballot paper

Here you vote for your preferred political party. 

These votes are used to allocate the 14 remaining London Assembly seats, to ensure that the parties are represented fairly. In practice, any party that gets more than 5% of the vote will get a place, starting with the person at the top of their list.

Although I'm very happy to see proportional representation on the Assembly this does open up the real possibility of electing a member from the odious British National Party.

So whatever else you do, don't leave this ballot paper blank. Don't let the BNP get a foothold in the London Assembly.

Where is my polling station?

Enter your postcode on the London Elects site to find out. You don't need to take your polling card with you to vote, but you do need to be on the electoral register.