Sadiq Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor

Sadiq Khan has been elected the new Mayor of London, after beating Tory Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614.

The result bolsters leader Jeremy Corbyn after Labour was beaten into third in Scotland by the Tories and lost some English councillors.

In Scotland, the SNP said it would form a minority government after winning its third election in a row.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is celebrating what she said was an "emphatic" victory, her first as party leader, after the SNP emerged as the largest party at Holyrood with 63 seats, ahead of the Conservatives on 31 and Labour on 24.

In Wales, Labour remains as the largest party, with 29 out of 60 seats, but was denied a majority as Plaid Cymru and UKIP both made notable gains. Counting is continuing in Northern Ireland.

KHAN, FIRST MUSLIM MAYOR

Mr Khan's victory, which gave him the largest personal mandate of any politician in UK history - ends eight years of Conservative control of City Hall. The former Labour MP and minister, 45, becomes London's third mayor after Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson.

In his victory speech, Mr Khan referred to his humble origins on a council estate and said he had never imagined that "someone like me could be elected as mayor of London," promising to be a mayor "for all Londoners".

He said the campaign had not been without controversy, but added: "I am so proud that London has today chosen hope over fear".

"Fear does not make us safer, it only makes it weaker politics of fear is not welcome in our city", he added.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER

Goldsmith thanked his “wonderful, inspiring team”, and congratulated Sadiq Khan: “ I wish him well as he sets out to build on the successes that we have seen under Boris Johnson and to take them even further.”

Outgoing mayor Boris Johnson said: "Many congratulations to Sadiq on securing a huge mandate to do the best job in British politics. I wish him every possible success and will be calling him in the morning.

"I have also been in touch with Zac and thanked him for his heroic efforts to carry the Conservative banner in our city, in spite of the strong headwinds he faced at this stage in the political cycle."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn led congratulations on Twitter using the hashtag YesWeKhan and telling the new mayor: "Can't wait to work with you to create a London that is fair for all."

LABOUR VOTE DOWN ABOUT 6%

Labour suffered one of its worst ever results in Scotland - losing 13 seats and being pushed into third place by the resurgent Scottish Conservatives.

Speaking before Mr Khan's victory, Mr Corbyn talked up Labour's performance in Thursday's elections, saying it had defied predictions by retaining control of councils in the south of England such as Southampton, Hastings, Crawley and Norwich.

Labour's vote share is down about 6% on average on 2012 - the last time these seats in England were contested - with 24 fewer councillors. But its share is up 4% on the general election in key wards, with the Conservatives down by a similar amount.

In Scotland, Labour gained one seat from the SNP - Edinburgh Southern - but failed to take other targets and was beaten into third place by the Conservatives - a result that would have been unthinkable in the past.

Speaking in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon said the SNP had a "clear and unequivocal" mandate and would govern on its own rather than in alliance with other parties.

UKIP BREAKTHROUGH

In Wales, Labour's vote is down by eight points overall, the Conservative vote is down by three points, while Plaid Cymru is up by two points.

But the biggest story of the night in Wales was the performance of UKIP, which saw its vote increase by 12 points and saw seven candidates elected.

DAVID CAMERON: “A GOOD RESULT”

David Cameron said the party's second place in Scotland and its showing in England, where it took control of Peterborough Council and won council seats in key Westminster marginals such as Dudley and Nuneaton, represented a good result for a party which had been in government for six years.

Thursday's polls were the single largest test of political opinion before the next general election, which is scheduled for 2020, with 43 million people entitled to take part.

EAUK ORGANISED DEBATE BEFORE ELECTIONS

Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan, along with with Caroline Pidgeon from the Liberal Democrats and Sian Berry for the Green Party , spoke to hundreds of Christians at the church hustings two weeks before London heads to the polls.

The UK Evangelical Alliance and Churches Together in South London invited the five main candidates to hear the issues that matter to Christians and answer their questions.

Hosted at Kensington Temple, the candidates heard about the work of Christians and churches across the capital.

Each of the candidates, shared with the assistants how their faith and values influenced their politics.

They also spoke about the need to protect freedom of expression while also protecting London against terrorism, as well as tackling homelessness and the need for affordable housing in the capital.