Sadiq Khan was this afternoon inching towards reelection as London mayor after some early jitters.
The Labour incumbent had taken 40 per cent all counted votes at 4pm, pulling away from his Tory rival Shaun Bailey on 35 per cent.
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The race for City Hall has proved much tighter than expected, with some pre-election polls projecting Mr Khan to cruise to a first round victory.
As things stand the contest will go to second preference votes, which will likely push Mr Khan over the line. A result is not expected until 9pm.
Bailey has done far better than his party did in 2016.
One insider said: “It’s closer than everyone thinks. Shaun will have beaten the polls by a fair whack.”
A London Labour source added: “We think it will be close. There is no chance of winning on the first round.”
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Labour said Mr Khan was missing out because the system allows voters to pick a first and second preference.
The source said: “We’re seeing a big impact from a low turnout and voters thinking they can put a smaller party first preference and not influence the result.”
Mr Khan is still favourite to win with the result expected later today.
On the London Assembly fight, none have so far changed party control.
Tories held three and Labour clung onto four, with seven more to be declared today.
Meanwhile, No 10 was monitoring Scottish election results amid fears an SNP majority will lead to demands for a new independence vote.
Speaking in Hartlepool, PM Boris Johnson said: “I don’t think people want much more constitutional wrangling.
“What the people of this country want to see is politicians of all kinds — in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, across the whole of the UK — working together to bounce back strongly from the pandemic.”
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