When will the winner of the London Mayoral Election be announced?

Londoners went to the polls on Thursday, 2 May to elect a mayor and 25 London Assembly members.

Around six million people were registered to vote in this year’s election, which decides who will be in charge of the capital for the next four years.

The ballot boxes were moved from more than 3,600 polling stations across the capital, staffed by around 12,000 people, to 14 counting centres in the city overnight.

But the results are unlikely to be declared until late on Saturday, as verification of the votes does not start until Friday morning at 9am.

Counting of the votes then starts at 9am on Saturday, with three ballot papers needing to be counted.

The mayoral votes will be counted first, followed by the constituency London Assembly members, and then the London-wide Assembly members.

The first results should emerge around midday and it is thought the winner may be clear by as early as 1.30pm on Saturday. But the official announcement is expected to take place in the late afternoon or evening at City Hall – and could be pushed back if there are any delays.

This year there was a new voting system, first past the post (FPTP), similar to what is used in general elections.

In previous mayoral elections voters could make a first and second choice for mayor, however this time people only received one vote.

The London mayoral candidates were officially announced on Thursday 28 March, with 13 candidates running for office.

Here are all the candidates below.

Sadiq Khan was running for his third term as London mayor after first being elected in 2016.

The Labour incumbent launched his re-election campaign on Monday 18 March and accused the Conservatives of an “abject failure” on housing.

He pledged to build 40,000 new council homes by the end of the decade to unleash the “greatest council housebuilding drive in a generation” if voted back in.

He said the capital would go “much further, much faster” with Labour running both Downing Street and City Hall and without the Tories “holding us back”.

The mayor vowed to deliver a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to make real inroads into solving London’s housing crisis” and “end the scandal of rough sleeping”.

The Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez), one of Khan’s flagship policies, has been the centre of controversy in recent years.

First introduced in the capital in 2019 to tackle air pollution, Ulez was expanded to every borough in August 2023 despite vocal backlash. Many of the other mayoral candidates vow to scrap the scheme if elected.

Susan Hall is a London Assembly member and former council leader. 

If she defeats Mr Khan, she will become the first woman to lead London as mayor.

Ms Hall has a five-point plan for London. She vows to reduce crime, scrap Ulez, build “family homes”, and make London a “cleaner and greener city”.

The Tory candidate has been a controversial choice since her selection last year.

She previously apologised for liking a string of tweets including Islamophobic abuse of Mr Khan and images of former Conservative politician Enoch Powell, best known for his infamous “rivers of blood” immigration speech that was widely blamed for heightening racial tensions in the 1960s.

Ms Hall also admitted she does not know the price of bus fares in London.

Rob Blackie is an anti-Brexit campaigner and digital marketer who advises start-up tech companies.

The Lib Dem candidate launched his election campaign on Tuesday 18 March, saying his top priority is crime and policing.

“Sadiq Khan’s failure on those issues is the main reason I am standing against him,” he said.

“Violent crime has risen by 30 per cent in London since Mr Khan has been in office. Sexual offence clear-up rates have halved in the last eight years…

“Sadiq Khan blames everyone else for this but himself. The buck stops with him and we will call him out in this campaign.”

Mr Blackie also described Conservative candidate Ms Hall as “beyond the pale”. 

Zoe Garbett is a councillor for Dalston and Hackney.

She tweeted in February: “I’m overjoyed to have been chosen to be the Green Party candidate for London Mayor. Huge thank you to London Green Party for your support and can’t wait to start the campaign.”

Ms Garbett called for a two-year rent freeze as one of her main priorities.

Vying to become London’s first Green mayor, she said: “If people want to vote Green, they can – and should! The Green Party has consistently come third in London and we are a growing force nationally.

“Green Assembly members have a track record of delivering for Londoners. A Green mayor would be much more ambitious tackling the issues that really matter to voters: dealing with the housing crisis, making our city more affordable and a more accountable police service.”

Howard Cox is the founder of Fair Fuel UK campaign and Reform UK’s candidate for mayor.

Mr Cox has pledged to scrap Ulez as well as low-traffic neighbourhoods.

At an anti-Ulez protest earlier this year, the Reform candidate said: “Good, decent, honest, taxpaying, hardworking people are being impacted by Ulez.

“It’s such a sad thing because we do not need Ulez. Science proves we don’t need it.

“Stop picking on the motorists, they’re the commercial heartbeat of the economy.”

Amy Gallagher is an NHS nurse and psychotherapist.

Ms Gallagher told the BBC she was standing in the election to “push back on woke ideology”.

Ms Gallagher said London had become “more divided” and that Sadiq Khan was “spending too much money on campaigns that are all about virtue signalling”. If elected, her top priority would be to “defund divisive diversity and inclusive spending”.

She added: “Poor living conditions, lack of community, division, increases in crime, unreliable public transport: many people feel like politicians have let them down and they never get the change they were promised.”

Ms Gallagher garnered media attention after bringing legal action against the NHS, accusing it of forcing critical race theory on people.

Count Binface describes himself as an intergalactic space warrior.

He previously ran in the 2021 London election and came ninth.

He pledges to enforce a price cap on croissants, rename London Bridge to Phoebe Waller-Bridge and bring back Ceefax.

He also vows to ban loud snacks from theatres and give royal palaces to the homeless.

Brian Rose – London Real Party

Femy Amin – Animal Welfare Party – People, Animals, Environment

Nick Scanlon – Britain First – No To Immigration

Natalie Campbell – Former Conservative hopeful

Tarun Ghulati – Investment banker

Andreas Michli – Health and fitness entrepreneur

Source: independent.co.uk