After months of wrangling, the opposition Conservative Party in Britain has picked a former transport minister Steven Norris as its candidate for the new post of mayor of London.

Mr Norris lost the original selection contest last October to the millionaire novelist Lord Archer -- but Lord Archer stood down after admitting that he'd asked a friend if he'd be willing to lie on his behalf in a court case.

Then a Conservative panel left Mr Norris off the new short list because of complaints about his past affairs with a series of women.

But that decision was overruled by the party's authorities. In the new contest, Mr Norris beat a former local council leader, Andrew Boff, by a big majority.

The governing Labour Party has yet to choose its candidate.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service