Ken Livingstone has won the tacit support of the City in his bid to be re-elected as London mayor, Financial Times research suggests.

Leading business organisations, while stressing their apolitical nature, praise the Labour mayor’s “good track record” in running the capital. The City is not overtly hostile to Boris Johnson, but sees the Tory candidate as an untested proposition, given his lack of experience in running large organisations.

The City’s backing for Mr Livingstone might appear counter-intuitive, given his “loony left” tabloid characterisation during his 1980s leadership of the Greater London Council.

However, his actions as mayor have not conformed to this simple stereotyping – witness, for example, Mr Livingstone’s recent criticism of the levy imposed by the government on wealthy non-domiciled foreigners in the City.

The mayor is also seen as an effective technocrat and champion of large-scale projects.

“Big business, big developers, see Ken as a relatively safe bet,” said Tony Travers, director of the greater London group at the London School of Economics. “Ken’s vision of urban priorities is in its way Thatcherite – he’s an über-Blairite who believes in London’s rapid development [with] lots of tall buildings, and business success.”

The CBI employers’ organisation praised Mr Livingstone’s “good track record” with business.

“He has a good record of attracting business to London and working to make the City of London a financial centre,” Nigel Bourne, the CBI’s London director, told the FT.

“That certainly needs to continue [whoever is elected as mayor].”

The City’s concerns about the prospect of a Tory mayor centre on Mr Johnson’s CV, rather than his policies. The Conservative candidate’s refusal to date to name the executives he would appoint to run key policy areas, such as transport and planning, has exacerbated business uncertainty about how his administration would operate.

London First, which represents large companies in the capital, highlighted the crucial role that whoever is elected mayor will play in ensuring the £16bn Crossrail east-west rail link is delivered effectively.

“It raises very big project management issues,” said Baroness Jo Valentine, the organisation’s chief executive.

“It will need the mayor to have the right judgment and right people round him.”

The success of Mr Livingstone and Mr Johnson in identifying the issues that most concern business has not been matched by adequate policy proposals in all areas, particularly in relation to tacking congestion, Baroness Valentine said. “All the candidates have made an effort to engage with business but I wouldn’t wish to imply that they have addressed all our concerns,” she said.

Mr Johnson may find a more receptive audience among small business than in the City. Smaller employers welcome the Tory candidate’s pledge to increase consultation with them, as well as his commitment to reopen consultations on last year’s extension of the congestion charge zone.

According to Mr Travers: “Ken is probably the candidate of big business, but Boris is the candidate of small business.”