UK elections: Sadiq Khan confirmed as London mayor

• Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor of London, decisively beating his Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith after what was seen as one of the most rancorous British electoral contests in recent years. Even before Khan’s victory was formally announced many senior Tories criticised Goldsmith for his tactics, which involved trying to associate Khan with extremism by focusing on Islamists he has shared platforms with in the past. Khan, the Muslim son of an immigrant bus driver who has denounced Islamist extremism, used his victory speech to praise London for resisting Goldsmith’s scaremongering. He said:

This election was not without controversy and I’m so proud that London has today chosen hope over fear and unity over division. I hope that we will never be offered such a stark choice again. Fear does not make us safer, it only makes us weaker, and the politics of fear is simply not welcome in our city.

Khan has now become arguably the most powerful Muslim to hold elected office in Europe and his victory has made the headlines all around the world. It is also given Labour a strong victory to celebrate at the end of an election that has seen the party suffer dire defeat in Scotland, and make only the most modest progress (in share of the vote terms) in England.

That’s all from me.

Thanks for the comments (before we turned them off.)

The Greens’ mayoral candidate, Sian Berry, came third, with 150,673 votes, ahead of the Lib Dems’ Caroline Pidgeon, who got 120,005. The Greens say it is the best result they have had in London. Berry said:

Today is a victory for the politics of bringing Londoners together not dividing them. I’m proud that Londoners have voted for good, positive ideas in such numbers. In every vote Greens have cemented our position as the number three party in London, coming third in the vote for mayor, on the Londonwide list and in a majority of constituencies. The immediate priority for Greens on the London assembly now will be to push the new mayor to make the right decisions on road-building and estate demolitions and to clean up our city’s filthy air.

This is from the Times’s Patrick Kidd.

This is from YouGov’s Joe Twyman.

And this is from the Economist’s Jeremy Cliffe.

Here is a Guardian video profile of the new London mayor.

Zac Goldsmith is speaking now.

He thanks his campaign team, everyone who contributed to the election and Londoners who voted for him.

He congratulates Khan and wishes him well.

Sadiq Khan is speaking now.

He says thank you, London. It is the greatest city in the world. He feels humbled.

When he grew up he never thought he could be mayor.

He says he wants every Londoner to have the opportunities London gave to him, not just to survive, but to thrive.

He wants to give Londoners the chance to have a home, and better jobs, and cleaner air.

He says he has been thinking a lot about his late father. He would have been so proud, he says.

He thanks his “amazing mum”, his wife, his daughters, and everyone who worked on his campaign.

And he wants to thank the other campaigns and candidates too.

He says this election was not without controversy. But he is so proud London has chosen “hope over fear, and unity over division”.

He says he hopes London never sees a campaign like this again.

And here are the final votes, once second preferences from the minor candidates were taken into account.

Sadiq Khan - 1,310,143

Zac Goldsmith - 994,614

Here are the votes for Goldsmith and Khan in the first round.

Zac Goldsmith - 909,755

Sadiq Khan - 1,148,716

It’s finally happening.