London has been selected as an official candidate city for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
The (IOC) International Olympic Committee shortlisted London, New York, Madrid, Paris, and Moscow with the final choice to be decided next year.
Four other cities, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Leipzig and Havana were rejected by the IOC.
The announcement was welcomed by London politician from all parties.
The Mayor, Ken Livingstone said "London stands an excellent chance of winning the games and I am pleased to have been able to play my part in making the ground ready".
Steve Norris, Conservative Mayoral Candidate called for "for the Government to put their money where their mouth is" adding "I am delighted London has reached the next stage of the bid but now it is time for the Government to show it is serious about the Olympics. All we have had so far are warm words from Labour ministers but no actual money.
The Olympics will benefit the whole country and it shouldn’t be just Londoners who pay for it. Unlike Ken Livingstone, I won’t be rolling over for Gordon Brown."
LibDem candidate and Southwark MP Simon Hughes told MayorWatch he was "pleased" at what he called "fantastic news for the capital."
Reiterating his campaign pledge to support the bid should he win the June 10th poll Mr Hughes added "Winning the Olympic bid would be great for jobs, great for getting more sporting facilities and great for the pride of London and Londoners".
UKIP candidate Frank Maloney called on doubters to back the bid saying "I can’t understand why some Londoners oppose this. It is so important we win the bid or we may never see the Olympics here in our lifetime. We may complain about transport links but these can be improved if we give the London Olympics our full backing"
However Green party candidate Darren Johnson expressed a note of caution, "I would dearly love to see the Olympic Games held in London but we are rushing into this bid without having considered all the implications…Let’s go all out for 2020 when I am confident we will have improved much of London’s most pressing areas of neglect."
