The majority of Londoners feel that things are improving in the capital, with 80 percent saying that the capital is an easier city to get around and 75 percent saying that London has good relations between different racial, ethnic and religious communities – up from 62 per cent in 2002.

On crime, 65 per cent of Londoners say that the thing most likely to improve safety in the capital is more police around on foot. The results come from a face-to-face survey carried out by MORI between 27th October and 20th December 2004.

The poll also showed that the publication of the Mayor’s newspaper has transformed how well informed Londoners feel about London’s government. While much remains to be done in this area, 30 per cent felt the Mayor and the Greater London Authority keeps them very or fairly well informed. This is up from just 12 per cent four years ago.

Ken Livingstone said, "The annual survey provides invaluable information about Londoners' views. The survey shows Londoners understand that we are starting to reverse years of neglect by getting more police on the beat, improving the transport system and cleaning up the environment. We now have more police on London’s streets than at any other time in history allowing us to put officers back into our communities. Two thirds of people want more police on foot."

The things that Londoners find ‘worst’ about living in London are the cost of living, traffic congestion, safety and crime rates and the cost of housing. In relation to housing and accommodation, 93 percent of people agree that the cost in London is too expensive.

Other findings in the survey include that there has been a 19 points fall since 2001 in the number of people who think that transport is one of the worst things about living in London. 83 percent of those questioned said that they were satisfied with their neighbourhood as a place to live and there has also been a reduction in the number of people who see litter as a major problem for the quality of London’s environment. This can possibly be attributed to increased media advertising and the training of borough enforcement officers.