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Labour's Khan Wins London Mayoral Election

Labour's Sadiq Khan has broken the Conservatives' eight-year hold on the London mayoralty by defeating Tory rival Zac Goldsmith.

The Tooting MP will become the first Muslim Mayor of London after he emerged as the victor over Mr Goldsmith and 11 other contenders.

Final confirmation of Mr Khan's victory has been delayed by several hours due to some voting "discrepancies".

An official declaration is expected shortly.

A London Elects spokeswoman said: "The returning officer is currently updating candidates and agents.

"There were some small discrepancies with regard to the mayoral figures and we have to take the time to check them.

"We're doing the checking in conjunction with the Electoral Commission. We have to take the time to resolve these issues. We are working towards a declaration at midnight. I apologise."

But Sky News election analyst Michael Thrasher said it is already "mathematically impossible" for Mr Goldsmith to win the poll.

"We're looking at the distribution of first votes and Khan is a long way ahead of Goldsmith on that," he said.

"We're also looking at the distribution of second preference votes that would be re-distributed to those two leading candidates (and) again Khan is ahead of Goldsmith on that.

"It is mathematically impossible for Goldsmith to overtake Khan."

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The result follows an at times bitter mayoral bid from both camps, with Mr Goldsmith's campaign being labelled "vile" by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Goldsmith and David Cameron in turn sought to link Mr Khan with Muslim "extremists" during the lead-up to Thursday's poll.

Mr Corbyn hailed Mr Khan's victory by tweeting: "Congratulations @SadiqKhan. Can't wait to work with you to create a London that is fair for all! #YesWeKhan."

Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, said: "We welcome Sadiq's victory and we look forward to working with him to transform London's transport system into a world beater.

"After eight years of Tory misrule, he has made it clear that he is ready to talk to working people and their representatives.

"He deserves his victory given all the lies and smears he had to face from the Tories during a very divisive and, at times, racist campaign."

In the London Assembly, UKIP has won its first seats in over a decade, taking two.

Labour won 12, the Conservatives eight, the Greens won two and the Liberal Democrats took one.

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Mr Khan was the bookmakers' favourite to win the mayoral race.

He is the son of a Pakistani bus driver who grew up on a council estate.

He has been the MP for Tooting since 2005, and has held the posts of transport minister, shadow justice secretary and shadow minister for London.

His campaign focused largely on transport and providing affordable housing for Londoners.

In the lead-up to the poll, he vowed to build more homes, provide starter houses for under £450,000, and ring-fence new homes on brownfield sites for Londoners.

He also pledged a four-year fare freeze on transport and better relations with unions to end strikes.

Earlier, outgoing mayor Boris Johnson thanked the capital for his eight years in office as he sent his final messages from the official London Mayor Twitter account.

"It's time to sign off from City Hall - it's been the most amazing privilege to be your mayor," he tweeted.