London mayoral election results 'will be close' with low turnout potentially hitting Sadiq Khan

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and his wife Saadiya arrive with their dog Luna to cast their vote in the London mayoral election
Sadiq Khan is hoping to be re-elected for an historic third term as London's mayor -Credit:Carl Court/Getty Images


London's mayoral election between Sadiq Khan, Susan Hall and other candidates is said to be 'very close' as this year's turnout has been revealed to be lower than in 2021. Votes will be counted and results declared tomorrow.

Londoners voted for their mayor and London Assembly Members on Thursday, May 2. But London Elects has this afternoon released the turnout figure after verification of the number of ballot papers was carried out today.

The London-wide voter turnout this year was 40.5 per cent– down 1.5 percentage points on 2021.

READ MORE: Londoners in Tory seats told to 'hold their nerve' ahead of general election

Susan Hall, Conservative Mayoral Candidate poses after casting her vote at a polling station
Susan Hall cast her vote at a polling station in Hatch End on May 2 -Credit:Peter Nicholls/Getty Images

MyLondon understands that Labour believes that tomorrow's result is going to be 'very close'. Mr Khan's team is also concerned about the less than 5 percentage point gap between Mr Khan and the then-Tory candidate, Shaun Bailey, in 2021.

In addition, the party's thinking is that voter ID regulations - which mean voters had to bring an acceptable form of documentation with them to polling stations or be turned away - makes it 'easier for Tories to win'. It is also understood that the mayor's team believes encouraging polling - which put Mr Khan between 10 and more than 20 percentage points ahead of his Conservative rival - were 'way out'.

The Tories have been accused of 'rigging' the system to make it 'easier for them to win' by bringing in voter ID and first past the post (whereby Londoners get one vote instead of a second preference) and 'fought a dirty campaign'.

MyLondon understands that the Conservatives' view on these allegations is: "Is Donald Trump doing the briefing for Sadiq?"

Full turnout figures in London

Constituencies

Electorate

Verification totals

Turnout (%)

Barnet and Camden

413,809

163,830

39.59%

Bexley and Bromley

421,800

204,058

48.38%

Brent and Harrow

428,775

159,033

37.09%

City and East (Barking and Dagenham, City of London, Newham, Tower Hamlets)

628,856

195,989

31.17%

Croydon and Sutton

440,715

186,271

42.27%

Ealing and Hillingdon

453,892

195,095

42.98%

Enfield and Haringey

399,677

165,372

41.38%

Greenwich and Lewisham

399,703

161,183

40.33%

Havering and Redbridge

402,497

172,852

42.94%

Lambeth and Southwark

448,552

175,532

39.13%

Merton and Wandsworth

384,678

176,930

45.99%

North East (Hackney, Islington, Waltham Forest)

524,885

207,722

39.57%

South West (Hounslow, Kingston Upon Thames, Richmond Upon Thames)

455,381

206,109

45.26%

West Central (Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster)

359,208

125,645

34.98%

The Greater London Returning Officer (GLRO) will announce the result of the mayoral election at City Hall tomorrow (Saturday, May 4) once all votes have been counted at the 14 constituencies. Later, the GLRO will announce the allocation of the 11 London-wide Assembly Member seats.

Once the Constituency results have been announced at each venue, the London-wide ballot papers counted, and the calculation made to allocate the 11 seats proportionally to parties or candidates.

Read our exclusive sit-down interview with Sadiq Khan ahead of the London mayoral election here. Read our full chat with Susan Hall here.

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