Sam Francis
BBC News, London

Labour's Sadiq Khan is currently 25,000 votes ahead of the Conservative's Shaun Bailey in the race to become mayor of London, with seven out of 14 constituencies declared in full.

But Mr Bailey is outperforming the previous Conservative candidate, Zac Goldsmith, based on the declared constituencies.

Most polls predicted Mr Bailey would trail Mr Goldsmith, who forced Mr Khan into a run-off in 2016 after securing 35% of the vote.

The mayor of London is elected on a Supplementary Vote system, where each voter can choose a first and second preference for mayor.

If any candidate receives more than 50% of the first preferences they win the election outright. If no winner is found based on first preference votes the top two candidates enter a run-off, where their second preferences are added to their total vote.

In 2016, Mr Khan only became mayor of London only after securing 56% of the second preference votes.

Mr Khan is currently around 4% behind his 2016 votes, based on the declared constituencies.

More than half the votes still need to be counted, and we won't know the full result until tomorrow evening, but it is looking much closer than many polls predicted.

Read more on the mayor of London's powers here.

Sam Francis
BBC News, London

Image source, EPA

The first results of the Greater London Authority (GLA) election appear to show a similar picture to 2016.

Electors confirmed the first seven members of the 25-member London Assembly. No constituencies changed hands.

Membership of the London Assembly is split in two - with 14 representing constituencies representing two boroughs, and the other 11 elected by a party-list system.

Labour saw three new London assembly members elected, replacing Labour representatives in the constituencies of North East, Brent and Harrow, and Lambeth and Southwark.

Marina Ahmad took over from Florence Eshalomi, who became Labour MP for Vauxhall in 2019.

Krupesh Hirani and Sem Moema took over from Navin Shah and Jenette Arnold respectively.

The Conservatives held the constituencies of West Central, along with Bexley and Bromley, and Havering and Redbridge. While Labour held Ealing and Hillingdon.

The result of the Mayor of London election is expected on Saturday.

Seven more constituencies will elect London Assembly members tomorrow.

Once all constituency members are elected the party-list members are decided. These London-wide seats are worked out in a way that benefits parties that did not win constituency seats.

The first result from the London Assembly election is in, with the Conservative candidate Tony Devenish holding the West Central seat by 2,225 votes from Labour - much reduced from a 14,000 majority in 2016.

The West Central seat includes two Tory run councils - Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, as well as the Labour Hammersmith and Fulham - and has been held by the Tories since the creation of the Assembly in 2000.

The result may be a blow to the hopes of Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey. The last time a Conservative won the London mayoralty, Boris Johnson in 2012, West Central was won by more than 29,000 votes.

Image source, Reuters

In London, Labour's Sadiq Khan had been widely expected to win in the race to be mayor.

There has been some speculation that the Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey is performing better than expected.

However BBC Radio London's political reporter Susana Mendonça warns that it is "early days" and that only a small number of constituencies have so far been counted.

"Both Bexley and Bromely and West Central have verified around 78% of their votes - they are both Conservative leaning areas," she says.

"The picture will changes as we go through today and tomorrow."

The Department of Health says the person who tested positive has self-isolated.

Sam Francis
BBC News, London

Image source, Getty Images

Even without a global pandemic, the Mayor of London would be facing a demanding term in office.

Ahead lies a genuine test of leadership.

The mayor, who will run a £19bn budget, is tasked with keeping the capital running and making the streets safe.

What are the biggest challenges in the next mayor's in-tray?

1. Road to recovery - London was at the epicentre of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic and has borne the brunt of economic fallout worse than any other region. The next mayor will need to use his or her influence to bring money and jobs to the city.
2. Transport finances - Transport for London (TfL) has received £4bn in emergency funding just to keep running since coronavirus hit. Keeping TfL running and independent will be a key challenge over the next mayoral term.
3. Tackling violent crime - Knife crime increased steadily over the past five years, before dropping drastically during London's lockdowns. Keeping London's streets safe will be a priority for any mayor.
4. Air Quality - This year, for the first time, London's air quality was recorded at an inquest as a factor in a person's death in the capital. Balancing the needs of road users and improving London's air quality could be a defining challenge of the next administration.
5. Building Homes - City Hall estimates London requires about 66,000 new homes a year to provide enough dwellings to keep pace with expected population growth. No mayor has ever been close to hitting this target. How the next mayor manages London's housing market could change the lives of Londoners for generations.

For more information click here.

Sam Francis
BBC News, London

Image source, PA

Votes for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly are being counted, but we won't know the full picture until Saturday evening at the earliest.

Even in normal times counting votes in London would be a mammoth task.

Every Londoner gets four votes - two preferences for the mayor of London and two for the London assembly. So even if only half of the 6.2 million registered voters in London turnout, that's an estimated 12 million votes to count.

The count is taking place at three count centres in the capital - Olympia, Alexandra Palace, ExCel.

Coronavirus restriction, plus an increased number of postal and proxy votes, means that it now takes longer to physically count the votes.

We expect the first of the 25 London Assembly seats to be decided this evening.

But be warned, the winner of the mayoral election, the top job in London, may not be known until Sunday.

Read the full list of the candidates standing in the election here.

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