London mayoral election 2016: Sadiq Khan wins City Hall for Labour as turnout surpasses 2008 high
Sadiq Khan stormed to victory as London mayor this evening.
With all 14 constituencies declared the mayoral election recorded the highest ever turnout at 45.6 per cent. The previous high was 2008, when turnout was 45.3 per cent.
Khan's victoy makes him the third directly elected mayor of London.
Goldsmith got off to a good start as the Conservatives secured an early win in Bexley and Bromley, but went on to win in just four more constituencies compared to Khan's nine.
The Tory candidate also won in Croydon and Sutton, Havering and Redbridge, South West and West Central.
However, Khan won more votes in the rest (and some by quite a large margin): Brent and Harrow, City and East, Ealing and Hillingdon, Enfield and Harringey, Lambeth and Southwark, Merton and Wandsworth, North East, and Greenwich and Lewisham as well as Barnet and Camden.
Sian Berry of the Green Party is likely to come third, overtaking the Liberal Democrats’ candidate Caroline Pidgeon. And the results indicated London still isn’t warming hugely to the UK Independence Party, which came fifth.
Read more: London mayoral election mapped live
Labour's leader Jeremy Corbyn has tweeted to congratulate Khan, adding: "Can't wait to work with you to create a London that is fair for all!"
Polling released yesterday by YouGov indicated Khan would win after second preferences were counted, taking City Hall for Labour after eight years under Tory Boris Johnson.
Khan is now expected to stand down from his job as an MP, triggering a by-election in Tooting.
Polling released today found that Londoners think Khan is unlikely to be a better mayor than Johnson, stating BoJo has done well in the job.
Yet Khan won after what was considered an intense and bitter battle against Goldsmith, whose campaign tactics were condemned by Labour as divisive.
Earlier, Hackney MP Dianne Abbott has said that the Conservatives don't deserve to win London after "the most appallingly anti-Muslim campaign".
Read more: Who are the 12 candidates running for City Hall?
Last night Andrew Boff, the former Conservative group leader on the London Assembly, said that Goldsmith's campaign had "blown up bridges" in the Muslim community. He doesn't expect Goldsmith to win, saying he's happy "he no longer has to defend the mayor".
In the Assembly election Labour took eight seats while the Tories took five. There was just one gain, as Labour won Mertin and Wandsworth from the Conservatives.