Tight race for London mayor as Sadiq Khan edges past Shaun Bailey

The race for the mayor of London is proving to be much tighter than expected with the incumbent, Sadiq Khan, narrowly leading his main challenger Shaun Bailey.

Counting resumed today (May 08) after results from seven of the 14 London Assembly territorial constituencies returned results on Friday (May 07).

According to multiple reports, data from the electronic counting machines revealed a neck and neck contest between the Labor Party’s Sadiq Khan and the Tories’ Shaun Bailey, with the rival candidates commanding 39 percent and 37 percent of the first preference votes respectively.

Meanwhile, the Green Party candidate, Sian Berry, is in distant third place with only 8 percent of the first preference votes.

As Labor Party hopes of an outright victory – which requires 50 percent of the vote – has evaporated, the outcome of the tightly fought race is likely to be decided by second preference votes.

Despite his poorer than expected performance, Khan – who consistently led pre-election opinion polls – is still expected to win.

Ballot papers are being counted at three election hubs – Alexandra Palace, Excel and Olympia.

Results are not expected before 8pm GMT tonight and there are fears the election may not be called until tomorrow.

Candidates have been told by officials not to arrive at City Hall for the results before 8pm tonight.

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