Boris Johnson has won the London Mayoral election for the Tories, securing a second four year term at City Hall.

After a long and highly negative campaign which saw intense fighting with his Labour rival Ken Livingstone, Boris finally won with 1,054,811 votes or 55.26%.

Going into the election opinion polls had suggested that Boris would win easily, but the final result ended up being tighter than expected, with Livingstone securing 992,273 votes, or 44.74%.

Speaking after the result was announced, Johnson said he would continue to "fight for a good deal for Londoners".

"I will dedicate myself to making sure that Londoners and above all young Londoners are ready to take the jobs that this amazing city creates," he said.

Conceding defeat, Livingstone said: "this is the defeat I most regret" and said: "This is my last election."

boris wins london

Ken's team had been downplaying their chances of winning throughout the day, with a member of his team telling the London Evening Standard on Friday afternoon: "The polls are narrowing, but sadly I think not enough."

Still, the narrowing of the polls late on during the count caused a wave of excitement at City Hall - with Boris' team revealing they had packed up their belongings into boxes in case of a shock defeat.

The count also took on something of a farcical tone late on Friday evening amid reports some ballot boxes had not initially been counted.

In light of crushing defeats for the Conservative Party in local council elections in England and Wales on Thursday, Boris has bucked national trend.

He will almost certainly now be talked up as one of the most likely successors to David Cameron as party leader.

It was a miserable day for Lib Dem candidate Brian Paddick, who finished in fourth place with 91,774 votes behind Green candidate Jenny Jones who secured 98,913 votes.

It was a better day for independent candidate Siobhan Benita, who has polled remarkably well with 83,914 votes, well above both Ukip and the BNP.

Her substantial showing in the polls came despite being denied access to any of the televised hustings before the election - something she has vowed to campaign about in the months to come.

Ukip are blaming their distant fifth place on a mess-up within the party, because they failed to get their party's name on the ballot paper.

Their candidate, Lawrence Webb, was billed only as "Fresh Choice For London", much to the annoyance of party leader Nigel Farage.

Labour did manage to win the consolation prize of picking up two seats in the London Assembly, taking their total to eight and making them the largest party

They managed to inflict a blow on Boris by unseating his formal deputy Richard Barnes, who saw a massive to swing to Labour in his constituency.

Labour’s Dr Onkar Singh Sahota narrowly took the seat, although as with other areas in London there's been a highly schizophrenic pattern of voting, with people often voting for Boris as Mayor but for Labour assembly members.

There were signs of voter apathy across Britain - nine cities voted in referendums to reject the idea of having elected Mayors. Bristol, however, voted in favour of one and will hold a further election on who'll do the job in November.

Full coverage of today's local and mayoral elections:

Coalition Parties Take A Pounding As Labour Gain More Than 800 Council Seats

Tories Urge David Cameron To Change Course

Voters Reject Cameron's Offer For Directly-Elected Mayors

A Lib Dem Is Beaten By A Penguin

Livingstone's defeat in London spoiled what was otherwise an excellent day for the Labour party, which inflicted heavy defeats on Tories and Lib Dems in council elections across England and Wales.

Labour gained more than 800 councillors - better than expected, with the Tories losing over 400 wards and the Lib Dems shedding over 300.

The party also saw off an SNP challenge for Glasgow Council, defying expectations that they would lose control. Instead the SNP polled worse than expected across the country.

Tonight Boris Johnson will be partying at Conservative Headquarters in central London, whether David Cameron will be in such a festive mood is much less clear.

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  • London Mayoral Election

    Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • Local council elections

    SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon casts her vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

  • Local council elections

    Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont at Berryknowe Resource Centre polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

  • Local council elections

    SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives to cast her vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

  • Local council elections

    A voter arrives at Berryknowe Resource Centre polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

  • Local council elections

    Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont (left) and local candidate Alistair Watson (right) at Berryknowe Resource Centre polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma arrive at their local polling station in north London with their son Tom, to cast their votes in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha arrive at the polling station in Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, before voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London with their dog Coco and children Mia and Tom after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London with their dog Coco after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London after voting in mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave the polling station at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London after voting in mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Ken Livingstone and his wife Emma leave their local polling station in north London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine arrive at their local polling station in north London to vote in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine leave their local polling station in north London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Labour leader Ed Miliband and wife Justine arrive at their local polling station in Highgate, north London, to vote in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Labour leader Ed Miliband and wife Justine arrive at their local polling station in Highgate, north London, to vote in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

  • Local council elections

    Ballot boxes are sent out to polling stations around Edinburgh from the council headquarters ahead of the local elections tomorrow.

  • Local council elections

    A voter arrives to cast a vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

  • Local council elections

    A voter arrives to cast a vote at Broomhouse Halls polling station in Glasgow, as Scots go to the polls today to elect their local councillors.

  • Local council elections

    Ballot boxes are sent out to polling stations around Edinburgh from the council headquarters ahead of the local elections tomorrow.

  • Local council elections

    Ballot boxes are sent out to polling stations around Edinburgh from the council headquarters ahead of the local elections tomorrow.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler leave their local polling station in London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler arrive at their local polling station in London to vote in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler leave their local polling station in London after voting in the mayoral and council elections.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Party leader Nick Clegg arrives to cast his vote in the local elections at the Park Hill community centre in his constituency in Stannington in Sheffield.

  • London Mayoral Election

    Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Party leader Nick Clegg arrives to cast his vote in the local elections at the Park Hill community centre in his constituency in Stannington in Sheffield.

  • A man watches the vote count status on s

    A man watches the vote count status on screens inside City Hall in London as results are tallied in the London Mayoral and local elections on May 4, 2012. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party took a bashing Friday in mid-term local elections, capping a bad month for the government after Britain slid back into recession. However, early vote indications showed Conservative Boris Johnson may hold on to the mayor's job in London in the year of the 2012 Olympics. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages)

  • Two men watch the vote count status on s

    Two men watch the vote count status on screens inside City Hall as results are tallied in the London Mayoral and local elections on May 4, 2012. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party took a bashing Friday in mid-term local elections, capping a bad month for the government after Britain slid back into recession. However, early vote indications showed Conservative Boris Johnson may hold on to the mayor's job in London in the year of the 2012 Olympics. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages)

  • Local council elections

    Labour leader Ed Miliband in Victoria Square, Birmingham, after Labour made significant gains in the mid-term local elections.

  • Local council elections

    Labour leader Ed Miliband in Victoria Square, Birmingham, after Labour made significant gains in the mid-term local elections.

  • Local council elections

    Labour leader Ed Miliband congratulates Labour Group leader Sir Albert Bore (right) in Victoria Square, Birmingham, after Labour made significant gains in the mid-term local elections.

  • Local council elections

    Edinburgh City Council votes are counted at the Meadowbank stadium, Edinburgh.

  • Local council elections

    Edinburgh City Council votes are counted at the Meadowbank stadium, Edinburgh.

  • Local council elections

    (From left to right) First Minister Carwyn Jones, Cardiff Council leader Heather Joyce and Shadow Wales Secretary Peter Hain celebrate the party's local government election win in the Welsh capital in Queen Street, Cardiff.

  • Local council elections

    Respect Party leader George Galloway at the party's Bradford HQ after they won five seats on the Bradford Council, including that of the Labour leader.

  • Local council elections

    Respect Party leader George Galloway with supporters at the party's Bradford HQ after they won five seats on the Bradford Council, including that of the Labour leader.

  • Local council elections

    Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont (right), MP Margaret Curran (left) and Labour leader Gordon Matheson at the SECC in Glasgow, as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

  • Local council elections

    Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont (left) and Labour leader Gordon Matheson at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

  • Local council elections

    Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

  • Local council elections

    SNP Leader Allison Hunter (left) and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (right) at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

  • Local council elections

    Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson (left) with David Meikle at the SECC in Glasgow as votes are counted in the Glasgow City Council elections.

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So over 41 hours after polls opened on Thursday morning, Boris Johnson is mayor of London and we can all go to bed to dream analytical dreams about what the results mean for the country.

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Probable ETA of a declaration is about an hour, hopefully less (please)

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London Elects statement:

We have results in from 13 of the 14 constituencies in the Mayor of London and London Assembly election. The final constituency is Brent & Harrow. The Greater London Returning Officer has been in touch with the CRO for Brent & Harrow to establish the reason for a delay. All batches of ballot papers were registered and scanned. Two batches went to storage without some ballot papers being manually entered as required. Manual entry is required when a scanner cannot read a ballot paper – for example if a ballot paper is damaged. It is not an issue with the scanners. The issue was identified during the verification stage. These two batches are being re-processed. To make this happen as quickly as possible we have separated out into several smaller batches. This is why the progress screens appear to show a changing number of verified ballot papers.

We will declare as soon as possible but it is obviously important that every vote is counted.

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Well we don't entirely know. The latest is that at least two ballot boxes were found unscanned at the Brent count, and they're now being counted by hand, for some reason.

There are rumours that Ken's team has asked for a full recount in Brent, which would delay things for another few hours.

London elects thinks it'll be only another 20 mins, but they've been saying that for nearly two hours.

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@ tnewtondunn : The Sun's pollster Peter Kellner of YouGov calls it - "Boris has won. He has too big a lead for Ken to overturn".

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It's leading to a sharp narrowing in the polls between the two candidates. On 1st preference votes Boris now has 44% and Ken 40% - 8 out of 14 constituencies have now declared.

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Here's the latest.

london shocker

People are talking about 50/50 odds between Ken and Boris. The atmosphere at City Hall has changed dramatically in the past half hour.

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Ed Miliband, speaking in Southampton, has declared that Labour is "coming back".

This comes after Labour took control of Southampton from the Conservatives.

He railed against the "out of touch government in Westminster".

"David Cameron promised change, not for the better but for the worse. Today in Southampton, it is a rejection of the economic failure of this government, and the unfairness of this government". he added

He also boasted that Labour is "beating back" the SNP in Scotland.

He recognised the low turnouts, saying it showed there was "still more to do".

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Conservative MP Peter Bone has said that the PM has 'one hand tied behind his back'.

"Worst of all, we've got the Liberals holding us back" he added

The results signified the "beginning of the end of the coalition", he told the BBC.

"We're seeing Boris winning as a Conservative in London, yet the Coalition losing against Labour. So the message must be let's come out of this coalition as soon as possible." he said

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Liam Byrne, who quit the Shadow Cabinet in preparation for running for Birmingham Mayor, has just tweeted this

@ LiamByrneMP : A huge thanks to ALL who supported Yes2Mayor, Albert and me: our job now is to get 4-square behind our brilliant new Lbr council #brummayor

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@ SmithTonyD : Brum result: Leader 120,611, Mayor 88,085. 57.8 Per cent "no" #BrumVote12

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@ oflynnexpress : Brum votes No to a Mayor. Has anyone noticed people like voting No in refs? No2EU

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With 56 of 79 seats declared, Labour currently lead over the SNP by 29 to 20.

Barring a major upset, Labour will resist the SNP advance in Glasgow.

@ suemacmillan : Labour holding its majority in Glasgow is a whopper of a result. Well done @scottishlabour

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@ JenWilliamsMEN : Ian Stewart is mayor of Salford.

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@ baddogOTM : Labour win CHIPPING NORTON! David Cameron, Rebekah Brooks, Elisabeth Murdoch, Steve Hilton + Jeremy Clarkson now have a LABOUR council.

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With 166 of 181 councils declared, Labour have gained more than 700 council seats.

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Former Libdem leader Paddy Ashdown has said the Liberal Democrats should "keep on doing" what it is doing.

Speaking to the BBC, Lord Ashdown said the party's mettle has been "tested" by the results.

"The party's mettle has been tested, it has been tested before. We should keep on doing what we're doing" he said

"It doesn't look as bad in terms of hanging onto our seats that we have got as it might have been." he added.

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According to the Guardian, Ken Livingstone's team are privately conceding defeat.

They reportedly also think Boris Johnson will increase his majority.

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A council candidate dressed as a penguin called Professor Pongoo has received more votes than the Liberal Democrats in Edinburgh.

Professor Pongoo (real name Mike Ferrigan) was an independent candidate who had pledged to wear the penguin outfit to every council meeting if he was elected.

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From the votes counted so far, Labour are on 44%, Conservatives are on 33% and the Greens are on 8%.

The LibDems dwell at 7% while Ukip are on 5%.

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Harman castigated Watson for his "hold your nose and vote for Ken" comment - and was a bit hesitant to agree that Ken had been the right candidate in the first place...we thought.

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Clearly annoyed, Farage has arrived at City Hall and says that the ballot paper fail was UKIP's fault, not London Elects. But he's blaming it on UKIP's poor performance. They're currently trailing in 6th place behind Siobhan Benita

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Ukip leader Nigel Farage is reportedly furious that his party's candidate for Mayor of London, Lawrence Webb, was listed on the ballot paper as Fresh Choice for London.

webb

He says it was a 'cockup which undoubtedly cost UKIP votes' and could have helped Boris Johnson's bid for four more years at City Hall.

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Also here is a round-up from HuffPost of Tory dissent following the local elections drubbing. A few themes emerge. Many Tories think House of Lords reform is a distraction - a couple but don't like gay marriage, but the overwhelming narrative is there needs to be a growth strategy.

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In an update to previous news about the BNP's difficulties, it has emerged that the party has lost every single one of the 12 seats it has been defending.

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@ Kevin_Maguire : Looks like Labour will win London but lose the Mayoralty, getting most votes/seats in the Assembly but Blue Boris beats Red Ken

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@ StewartHosieMP : 16 out of 16 #SNP win outright control of Dundee

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