London mayoral election results 2021: the charts and maps that show how the capital voted

London is close to knowing who will be its next mayor, now that polling stations have closed across the capital.

Sadiq Khan of Labour is running for re-election, with polls in the final days of the campaign suggesting he has a firm lead over Shaun Bailey, his Conservative opponent.

Check back to this page throughout Friday and the weekend to see how the count is progressing.

Voters in London went to the polls on Thursday, May 6 – a day that has earned the moniker of "Super Thursday" given the sheer number and variety of elections taking place in the UK.

On ballot papers across the country have also been candidates for the Scottish and Welsh devolved parliaments, English councils and mayors in other regions.

Behind the volume of elections this year is the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed back several races, including the London mayoral contest, from 2020 to 2021.

While a win for Mr Khan is expected in London, the final result may not be clear until the afternoon of Saturday, May 8 at the earliest due to the voting system used in the capital.

Londoners have indicated both a first and second preference for mayor on their ballots, with counting set to begin on 7am on Friday.

If no candidate at least 50 per cent of first preference votes, all but the top two candidates are eliminated, and counting of second preference votes begins.

Front-and-centre on the minds of Londoners when they voted will have been the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their city, a key theme of the mayoral campaign.

Mr Khan's re-election bid has taken employment as its focus, with emphasis on promoting tourism and investment to help more than 300,000 Londoners who lost their jobs during the pandemic re-enter the workforce.

Yet challenger Mr Bailey has been keen to point to the incumbent's record on crime, with pledges to increase police patrols and boost stop-and-search, particularly with an eye to cutting knife crime in the capital.

This year's London mayoral race has also seen a large number of outside candidates campaign, including Laurence Fox, the prominent anti-lockdown campaigner and Inspector Lewis actor.

In his bid for mayor, Mr Fox has pledged to "unlock" London from continuing lockdown, stating in an open letter to Londoners his intention to "reclaim your freedom to move" and "freedom to work".

Aside from their next mayor, residents of the capital cast their vote in London Assembly elections.

The 25-member body is part of the Greater London Authority and scrutinises the activities of the mayor.

Currently Labour is the biggest party in the body with 12 seats, followed by the Conservatives on 8, the Green party on 2, the Brexit Alliance on 2 and the Liberal Democrats on 1.

Labour has been the largest party in London since 2012 and the city remains fertile ground for the party – it is the only place Labour gained a seat in 2019 general election.

But the city has also seen Conservatives win the mayoralty twice and the Assembly has also given the party the largest share of votes in three elections.

You can find results for any election in your area using our postcode tool below.

What time are the London mayoral election results announced?

Vote counting starts on Friday, May 7, at 7am.

Due to coronavirus precautions that are being implemented at polling stations, a final result in the mayoral is not anticipated until the afternoon of Saturday, May 8, at the earliest, but a Sunday result is also expected.

Results from seven 'First Past The Post' seats (FPTP) in the London Assembly may be declared on Friday evening - these are Bexley & Bromley, Brent & Harrow, Ealing & Hillingdon, Havering & Redbridge, Lambeth & Southwark, North East and West Central.

The remaining seven FPTP seats will be declared on Saturday afternoon and evening. These are Barnet & Camden, City & East, Croydon & Sutton, Enfield & Haringey, Greenwich & Lewisham, Merton & Wandsworth, and South West.

The London-wide Proportional Representation top-up seat result may come late on Saturday. but could be on Sunday.

About our results

Our results data are provided by the Press Association. Changes are calculated against a council's or parliament's composition at the time of the election, rather than against the composition resulting from the previous election. The Press Association only collates results for elections already scheduled to take place for May 6 2021, so some council by-elections may not feature in our data.