Frank Dobson ... has borne a terrible brunt of odium Ken Livingstone on Labour's official candidate

An emotional Mr Livingstone, who was thrown out of the Labour Party after choosing to run as an independent when he failed to be selected as Labour's official candidate, praised his opponents and said he would invite them to work in his new administration.

He said: "In particular I want to say a word to my old colleague and friend Frank Dobson, who has borne a terrible brunt of odium which was not his but should have been rightly reserved for people who work behind the scenes."

Mr Dobson said he accepted his share of Labour's failure, but said he hoped he had not let too many people down.

The prime minister, Tony Blair, urged Mr Livingstone to work with the government, but added that his views about the left-wing MP - who he had said would be a "disaster" for London - had not changed.

Mr Blair made it clear Mr Livingstone would not be allowed to return to Labour after standing against an official party candidate.

Both Mr Dobson and Ms Kramer were eliminated from the contest after the first round, with their second preference votes then redistributed to Mr Livingstone and Mr Norris.

Mr Dobson's humiliation in the mayoral poll was underlined as he came fourth in the mayoral contest in Barnet and Camden - the seat which includes his parliamentary constituency.

In the elections for the 25 Greater London Assembly constituency seats, the Tories and Labour both won nine and the Liberal Democrats won four, while the Green Party picked up three seats.

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