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Ken Livingstone admits to having five children

03/04/2008

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has admitted to having five children by three different women.

Mr Livingstone however dismissed claims that the revelations about his private life will affect his campaign for a third term as Mayor of London.

As well as the two young children by his partner Emma Beale, Mr Livingstone has two daughters by one woman and a son by another.

In an interview with the BBC, the Mayor claimed the revelations would have no bearing on the London Mayoral elections of May 1st.

"I don't think anybody in this city is shocked about what consenting adults do," he said.

"As long as you don't involve children, animals or vegetables they leave people to get on and live their own life in their own way," he said

"If I had secrets that my family or my close friends didn't know about then that would be a different matter.

"But there's a difference between private and secret and I think the media's got to understand that."

According to a new poll published in the Guardian newspaper today Mr Livingstone and Conservative candidate Boris Johnson are currently tied in the battle to become the Mayor of London.