Sadiq Khan ‘has won’ the London mayoral election

Labour candidate Sadiq Khan ‘has won’ the London Mayoral election. At the time of writing, he has won more than 45 per cent of the first preference votes to Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith’s 34 per cent. Half of London’s constituencies have now been declared. Khan’s election will see the end of eight years of Tory mayoral rule in the capital.

Peter Kellner, president of polling company YouGov, told BBC Radio London this afternoon that he predicts Khan will win “without question”. He estimated that he would have a majority of around 300,000 votes.

Khan, who has been the MP for the south London constituency of Tooting since 2005, will take over from current Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson. In an interview with Buzzfeed News, outgoing Tory deputy mayor Roger Evans called Goldsmith’s campaign “foolish” and argued that it has damaged the Tories’ relationships with ethnic minorities. Goldsmith repeatedly attacked Khan for alleged links to Islamic extremists.

“I’m concerned that the campaign we’ve run is going to leave a negative legacy which we in London are going to have to clear up long after the people who ran Zac Goldsmith’s campaign have gone on their way,” Mr Evans said.

The final poll conducted by YouGov for the Evening Standard predicted that Khan was ahead of Goldsmith by 43 per cent to 32 per cent according to first preference votes. The poll predicted that the final run-off would give him the Mayoral title by 57 per cent to 43.

Commentators are piling in.

At the moment, the Green Party’s Sian Berry is in third, and the Lib Dems’ Caroline Pidgeon is in fourth, followed by UKIP’s Peter Whittle. Women’s Equality Party candidate Sophie Walker is ahead of George Galloway, in sixth place to his seventh.

The official result is expected between 7pm and 10pm, though reports from inside the count say it could come earlier.