Sadiq Khan has been re-elected London mayor for a historic third term after comfortably defeating his Labour rival Susan Hall.
The Labour candidate received 43.7% of the vote, compared to Hall’s 32.6% - the biggest ever margin of victory in a London mayoral election.
It is also the first time in the history of the London mayoralty that an incumbent has increased their margin of victory and seen a swing towards them.
The result means Khan is the longest-serving London mayor since the position was introduced in 2000, overtaking Boris Johnson.
His victory is another blow for Rishi Sunak, who has endured another miserable local election.
The Tories are on course to lose around 500 councillors in England, while Labour have taken control of a number of Conservative local authorities.
Labour also won a swathe of mayoralty elections, with Lord Houchen of High Leven’s victory in Tees Valley the only crumb of comfort so far for the Conservatives.
The most recent Labour mayoral victories were announced earlier today, with Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire), Oliver Coppard (South Yorkshire), Steve Rotheram (Liverpool) and Andy Burnham (Manchester) all winning comfortably.
In all, Khan received 1,088, 225 votes, with Hall well behind on 811,518.
Lib Dem Rob Blackie came third on 151,184, with the Greens’ Zoe Garbett fourth with 145,114 votes.
Khan’s triumph will inevitably lead to another round of Tory recriminations over the party’s choice of gaffe-prone right-winger Hall as the party’s candidate.
Khan’s campaign focused on his promise to freeze London Underground fares once again, and introduce free school meals at the capital’s state primary schools.
He addressed criticism over the lack of affordable housing by promising to build 40,000 new council houses by the end of the decade.
But Khan’s recent expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) has proved divisive because it charges older, more polluting vehicles.
The Tories turned it into a wedge issue, along with crime and low-traffic neighbourhood schemes.
Khan has said the possibility of a Labour government – which polls show is on the cards – means “this mayoral election can also be the first step towards a decade of national renewal”.
The mayor enjoyed a comfortable lead throughout the election campaign, but Labour sources grew increasingly worried yesterday that Hall could pull off a surprise victory.
There were concerns that the Tories’ decision to bring in the first-past-the-post system for mayoral elections could split the leftwing vote between Labour, Lib Dems and the Greens.
It was also the first time voter ID has been introduced for the mayoral elections, which Khan warned could end up preventing young voters or historically marginalised groups from being able to vote.
Khan worked as a lawyer specialising in human rights before becoming an MP in 2005, eventually becoming a minister in the last Labour government.
He resigned from parliament in 2015 and was elected as London mayor the following year, beating Tory contender Zac Goldsmith following as bitter contest.
Khan also defeated the Conservative challenger Shaun Bailey in 2021.