Politics
When will the London mayoral election results be announced?
ONE barmy London Mayoral hopeful wants to “sort out the pigeons” while another has donned “children’s glasses” to prove he’s a “man of action”.
Twenty candidates want your vote to carve up the capital’s eye-watering £19billion budget. Here’s when we’ll know who has been chosen to lead London.
- Follow the latest local elections 2021 stories
- Keep up-to-date on the 2021 London mayoral election
Who will be London’s next Mayor?[/caption]
When will the London mayoral election results be announced?
Sadiq Khan, 50, is running for a second term to rule London in the Thursday, May 6 mayoral elections.
The Labour rep has been leading the field in polling over his nearest rivals, Tory candidate Shaun Bailey, 49, Greens’ co-leader Sian Berry, 45, and Luisa Porritt, 33, leader of the Camden Lib Dems.
But, with a record-breaking 20 candidates, and more than six million people registered to vote, it all comes down to the big ballot count.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan vows he will try to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games back to London if he is re-elected[/caption]
Thursday May 6
Polls close at 10pm. A normal election would see votes counted overnight and declared the following day.
But, officials are warning that with the UK still affected by the Covid pandemic, Coronavirus measures are expected to slow the process down.
Friday May 7
The day after polling day, Londoners’ votes will start to be counted.
The counting will take place in three centres across London: Alexandra Palace, ExCel and Olympia.
Owing to the scale and complexity of the elections in London, votes are counted electronically – called e-counting.
These calculations are then checked by each Constituency Returning Officer and the Greater London Returning Officer.
Saturday May 8
Election officials hope to announce the results of the counts – including the Mayoral winner – on Saturday night.
Sunday May 9
Despite plans to reveal winners at City Hall on Saturday, we may not know who the next Mayor is until May 9, reports the Evening Standard.
As previously mentioned, this is due to the need to count millions of votes in a Covid-secure, socially distanced environment.
Voting in London
For voters in the capital, you will be given THREE ballot papers.
The Mayoral vote is completed on a pink ballot paper.
You have two choices for Mayor – mark [X] your first choice in Column A.
Mark [X] for a different second choice in Column B.
There are also:
- A yellow ballot paper for your London Assembly (constituency) member, to choose who you want to represent your local area on the London Assembly. Vote for just one candidate.
- An orange ballot paper to vote for your Assembly Member (London-wide). This allows you to choose who you want to represent the whole of London on the London Assembly. Vote only once on this paper.
Ultimate guide to Thursday’s local elections
SUPER Thursday will see millions of voters go to the polls for the first time in two years – with polling stations open across the country to elect the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, councillors, mayors and even an MP. Here’s everything you need to know…
What time do polling stations open on Thursday, May 6?
What seats are up for election and how can I vote?
Local election candidates: Who is standing in my area 2021?
London Mayor candidates 2021: Who is standing?
Hartlepool by-election candidates: Who is standing to replace Mike Hill?
Scottish election 2021 candidates: Who is standing in my area?
Local election 2021 voting rules: Polling station Covid restrictions explained
When will the winners be announced?
How often are local elections held in the UK?
How are London’s Mayoral results calculated?
The Mayor of London is elected by the ‘supplementary vote system’.
- Each voter has a first and second choice vote
- If a candidate receives more than half of all the first-choice votes they are elected
- But, if this does not happen, the two candidates with the most first-choice votes go through to a second round. All other candidates are eliminated
- The second-choice votes of everyone whose first choice has been eliminated are then counted
- Any votes for the remaining two candidates are added to their first-round totals.
- The candidate with the highest combined total of first and second choice votes wins
LATEST LOCAL ELECTIONS 2021 NEWS
Labour – Sadiq Khan
Khan is seeking a second term as Mayor after he was first elected in 2016 with 44.2 per cent of the vote.
But even as a favourite fighting for re-election in Labour-dominated London, Khan has a fight on his hands.
The son of a bus driver made history when he was elected London’s first Muslim mayor.
Before entering the House of Commons the 50-year-old practised as a lawyer specialising in human rights.
As mayor he introduced the hopper fare for unlimited bus and tram journeys for an hour.
He also increased the area and cost of the congestion zone.
Khan also brought in new charges (the ULEZ and the T-Charge) for older and more polluting vehicles driving in the city.
He has also been a strong supporter of remaining in the European Union.
While his environmental policies have gained praise he has been attacked for what is critics see as his inability to tackle the capital’s rise in crime and in particular knife crime.
A YouGov poll found only 30 per cent of Londoners were satisfied with his leadership, and 33 per cent dissatisfied.
However he remains a strong favourite among the bookies as he is long odds-on at 1-50 with bookmaker Coral.
Conservatives – Shaun Bailey
Tory candidate Shaun Bailey, 48, is the son of a lorry driver, whose grandfather came to Britain from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation.
He was raised in the West London area alongside his younger brother by his mum.
Bailey joined the Army cadets while still a teenager and remained with them for another 10 years.
In 2006, he co-founded MyGeneration, a charity for young people, which closed in 2012 due to financial problems.
He lost at the 2010 General Election standing in Hammersmith, and he failed to gain nomination for different constituencies at 2015 elections.
During his 2020/2021 mayoral campaign, Bailey has argued that increasing stop and search “saves lives.”
In an interview with TalkRadio in February 2020, he said he would “back the police to do the job” by giving them stop and search powers as well as the technology for scan and search.
Lib Dem- Luisa Porritt
Luisa Porritt, 33, is the leader of the Camden Lib Dems and the youngest of all of the candidates.
She has three main aims for Londoners: “jobs, homes and clean air.”
Porritt is the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Camden Council and was previously Deputy Leader of the party’s MEPs.
She says in her manifesto: “Londoners are uncertain about the future.
“They are worried about their jobs, how unaffordable it is to live here, and the city’s impact on the environment.
“Let’s make every neighbourhood in our city a safe and thriving place to live and work.”
Green Party- Sian Berry
Sian Berry is the co-leader of the Green Party and has been in the position since September 2018.
Berry was elected a Green London Assembly member in 2016 and also came third in the London mayoral race.
She has been a Camden councillor since 2014.
Berry said the Greens were the “only party Londoners can trust to deliver on their promises” with regard to housing.
Berry would set up a “creative autonomy allowance”, giving 1,000 young people £10,000 for three years to pursue creative careers
She would set the London Living Wage at £14 an hour from 2022.
She would also publish a new waste reduction strategy to encourage the “reduction, reuse and repair” of products.
Who are the other London Mayoral candidates?
Renew – Kam Balayev: “I want to take some of the profits from Big Tech, that they generate from us, and invest back in us through a pay rise and affordable homes for Londoners.”
Independent – Count Binface: “London’s pigeons need sorting out. They’ve been getting away with too much for too long.”
Count Binface says ‘this is a rubbish election’[/caption]
Burning Pink – Valerie Brown: “I want people to tell me what’s important to them and how best to get around the city.”
Independent – Piers Corbyn: “The biggest threat facing Londoners is the continuation of lockdown in various forms.”
Independent – Max Fosh: “I am running to beat Laurence Fox. I also want to increase the voter turnout from the younger demographic between 18-25.”
Reclaim Party – Laurence Fox: “We need to get London open and moving. Bring back tourists to this great city and bring people back to work.”
Actor and political activist Laurence Fox wants to lead London[/caption]
UKIP – Peter Gammons: “Transport for London is not run efficiently. The whole thing needs to be re-evaluated.”
Rejoin EU – Richard Hewison: “Obviously, I’m in favour of rejoining the EU. Brexit is a disaster for London… something has to be done to address it.”
Animal Welfare Party – Vanessa Hudson: “We have promoted the needs of humans and we haven’t looked at the needs of animals and the environment.”
Social Democratic Party – Steven Kelleher: “I will give free travel for everybody in the three years running up to their 25th birthday.”
Heritage Party – David Kurten: “I think the mayor of London needs to call for an end to lockdown and an opening up of businesses, shops, theatres and music venues without restrictions.”
Independent – Farah London: “With my leadership London will rediscover its pride and become the city of opportunities I grew up in.”
Independent – Nims Obunge: “I’m really keen to ensure we reduce knife crime, violent crime against young children.”
Independent – Niko Omilana: As “someone wearing children’s glasses… I am taking action now. I have a message to our prime minister on behalf of every young person in our nation: ‘Boris Johnson, shush’.”
Women’s Equality Party – Mandu Reid: “I want London to be a city where everyone can take freedom and safety for granted – men and women.”
London Real Party – Brian Rose: “I plan to rebuild London’s economy by abolishing the congestion charge until 2022 and dropping business rates to zero. Next, I want to put 10,000 new police officers on the street.”
