- guardian.co.uk, Friday April 28 2000 01.21 BST
The poll findings, which point to a potential humiliation for the former health secretary, were published as differences emerged between Mr Dobson and Labour assembly candidates over Mr Livingstone's manifesto pledge to cut traffic by 15% in 10 years.
Yesterday's ICM poll for the Evening Standard put Mr Livingstone's support at 51% - up a couple of points on a fortnight ago and back where he was in February - with Mr Norris up one at 17%, Mr Dobson down one at 14% and the Liberal Democrat, Susan Kramer, holding steady at 12%.
But, more alarmingly for Tony Blair and the Dobson campaign, it shows Mr Dobson level-pegging with Ms Kramer at 12% when the results are restricted to the two-thirds of respondents who said they were certain or likely to vote next Thursday, with Mr Livingstone at 53%.
Mr Dobson insisted the findings bore no relation to his canvassing returns and that voters would think twice about Mr Livingstone's "hidden taxes". Labour posters claim Mr Livingstone will introduce a monthly congestion charge of £300 to achieve his traffic reduction target of 15% by 2010.
But at least five Labour candidates running in tandem with Mr Dobson for the assembly have signed up to the same target as part of a Friends of the Earth campaign, a spokesman for the environmental group said yesterday.
Labour's candidate for Haringey and Enfield, Nicky Gavron, last month signed a statement in support of introducing congestion charges in the capital by 2003, as part of a plan to tackle the traffic crisis backed by the boroughs .
Jeremy Fraser, Mr Dobson's campaign manager, said: "Assembly candidates may have signed up to the 15% cut, but Frank has a large degree of scepticism about what can be achieved and serious candidates shouldn't sign up to stuff they don't think can be achieved".
A Labour spokesman added that no one was opposed to the "principle of congestion charging or aspirational targets", but that Mr Livingstone had ruled out increasing car parking charges, as proposed by the boroughs, and would have to rely on congestion charges.
That is rejected by Mr Livingstone, whose manifesto promises to consult about a possible charge for "unnecessary car journeys in a small zone of central London" to begin around 2002, as part of a wider package of measures. His spokesman dismissed the £300 figure as preposterous.
Mr Dobson's running mate, Trevor Phillips, will today can vass drivers with leaflets highlighting Labour's claims about Mr Livingstone's 15% traffic reduction target which, a party statement said last night, "would mean the introduction of a zonal congestion charge policy".
