LONDON, ENGLAND - THE Conservative Party's Boris Johnson set out his priorities for office in his first interview as London mayor but said he may not be able to stop his trademark slip-ups.

The 43-year-old former journalist, known universally by his first name, said on Saturday there was disconnect between his gaffe-prone past and the disciplined campaign he ran to oust incumbent Ken Livingstone from City Hall late on Friday.

'I was elected as new Boris and I will govern as new Boris, or whatever the phrase is,' he told the BBC, paraphrasing Mr Tony Blair's speech after taking the Labour Party to a general election victory in 1997.

'I think what Londoners want is someone who is going to cut the cackle, deal with the problems they face, articulate the issues clearly and simply, deliver taxpayer value, cut crime and get more police out on the streets,' he added.

'I will be very proud if in four years' time we can have achieved a significant reduction in crime, particularly in spaces for which the mayor is responsible, on the buses and the Tube.

'Boot me out with gusto if in four years' time we haven't pulled that off.'

Other priorities included looking at whether there should be a new airport in the Thames Estuary, to the southeast of the capital, and deliver the 2012 Olympic Games 'properly' without 'gross cost overruns', he said.

But once the political message had been hammered home, Mr Johnson, known for his idiosyncratic turn of phrase, said it was still possible to tell jokes.

'I feel that there's a kind of pent-up rage in the media. You're like some raven Hercanean tiger that's been deprived of its mortal prey, which is a Johnson blooper,' he said.

'I don't see why this matters so much. Of course there will be the odd ill-chosen expression or heavens knows what' but once the message was repeated and got across 'you can tell jokes a little bit, if you want'. -- AFP