An ICM poll carried out last weekend shows that 79 per cent of Londoners back the London 2012 bid for the Summer Olympic Games – a rise of 12 per cent since October. A year ago support was running at 53 per cent.
Asked why they backed the bid, 43 per cent of the 1,000 polled said they believed the Games would provide a boost to London’s economy.
The London 2012 bid team said 1.3 million people had registered their support for the Games since December.
London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone, said the results “gives us a real boost as we enter the home straight”.
Sebastian Coe, head of London 2012 said the results sent a “powerful signal to the Olympic Movement of the fantastic welcome they would receive in London”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair became the first person to sign a British Airways Boeing 747 in support of London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
During the next 10 weeks the British Airways Jumbo will be transformed into a flying petition, collecting the signatures of celebrities, passengers and airline staff who back the bid.
The airline, a premier partner of the 2012 bid, hopes to collect more than 100,000 signatures as part of its “sign the plane” initiative, and the signatures will be placed on the aircraft that carries the bid team to Singapore for the 2012 host city vote on July 6.
Prime Minister Blair said, “I am delighted to put the first signature on the British Airways 747. This is a fantastic opportunity for the British public to get behind the London 2012 Olympic bid.
“Bringing the Games to the UK would benefit the whole country enhancing the lives of millions and bringing thousands of visitors to the capital from around the world”.
