he beat the conservative candidate shaun bailey with 55% of the vote.as at city hall for the declaration. a big boost for sadiq khan and his team tonight as it's now been confirmed he will serve a second term as london mayor. 19 of the 20 candidates — that's a record number of candidates since the job was created back in 2000 — were standing in this race, and they were in the room as the results were read out. and a big sigh of relief, cheers, as sadiq khan was confirmed back into the position of london mayor. in terms of the numbers, well, sadiq khan secured 1,206,034 votes while his closest rival, shaun bailey from the conservatives, well, he managed to get 977,601 votes. now, the pressure was really on labour to keep this position because london is very much dominated by labour in terms of political allegiances, so it would have been a bit of a shock if the result had gone in a different direction. but it was much more closely contested than previously predicted — shaun bailey, the conservative candidate, doing much better than what the polls suggest

he beat the conservative candidate shaun bailey with 55% of the vote.nnouncing the results. a really lovely view of london behind you there. and this result coming through a little bit later than expected. take us through what's been happening in the last couple of hours.— couple of hours. yes, we were expecting _ couple of hours. yes, we were expecting the _ couple of hours. yes, we were expecting the result _ couple of hours. yes, we were expecting the result a - couple of hours. yes, we were expecting the result a couple i couple of hours. yes, we were l expecting the result a couple of hours ago, but a short time ago it was finally announced here at city hall in london, 19 of the 20 candidates stepped into the room to listen to that final declaration, and it was confirmed that sadiq khan has indeed secured a second term as mayor of london. there were cheers as the results were read out by his team, a result that many people were expecting, but not the race that many people had protected because it was much closer than first anticipated. the conserva

_ the conservative candidate, shaun bailey we — the conservative candidate, shaun bailey.noon. thank you very much- we _ early afternoon. thank you very much. we have _ early afternoon. thank you very much. we have touched - early afternoon. thank you very much. we have touched base . early afternoon. thank you very i much. we have touched base with cambridae much. we have touched base with cambridge and — much. we have touched base with cambridge and had _ much. we have touched base with cambridge and had a _ much. we have touched base with cambridge and had a word - much. we have touched base with cambridge and had a word with i much. we have touched base with | cambridge and had a word with our correspondence and in london and what that position is. let's look at another important battleground and thatis another important battleground and that is nottinghamshire in these english local authorities and to our correspondence there. tell us first of all, what is at stake in nottinghamshire and what do you expect people to be looking out for in the next few hours? this expec

well, at the moment, shaun bailey- this stage in the contest?st before you go, on the question of— closely. just before you go, on the question of second _ closely. just before you go, on the question of second preference - closely. just before you go, on the i question of second preference votes, those votes are so important and they will be liberal democrat and green come up with that suggest it would go directly to sadiq khan? —— green, would that suggest. i would go directly to sadiq khan? -- green, would that suggest.- green, would that suggest. i think so, it is green, would that suggest. i think so. it is safe _ green, would that suggest. i think so, it is safe to _ green, would that suggest. i think so, it is safe to say _ green, would that suggest. i think so, it is safe to say those - green, would that suggest. i think so, it is safe to say those votes i so, it is safe to say those votes would go to sadiq khan. but anything can happen in an election, we have had shock results in the past. but i think it is safe to say that sadiq khan i

re—elected mayor of london following a closer than expected race against conservative candidate shaun bailey wales, labour's mark drakeford remains first minister after his party took half of the 60 seats in the senedd. disruption continues on some of the uk's busiest rail lines — passengers are advised not to travel tomorrow after cracks were found on some high—speed trains. a man in his 20s is held in connection with the murder of the police community support officerjulia james in kent. and an undercover investigation — the queen's cousin, prince michael of kent, is secretly filmed talking about taking money from a prospective client for access to the kremlin. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are rachel cunliffe, deputy online editor at the new statesman, and john stevens, deputy political editor at the daily mail. tomorrow's front pages, starting with... the telegraph goes on two big stories from the 2021 elections. nicola sturgeon failing to win a clear majority in the scottish parliament and the labour party descending into

khan to have that much of a challenge on his hands but we had seen the conservative candidate shaun baileying signals cracks at the top of the party, with rows over who was to blame for the election strategy. the former shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell has tweeted, saying, "keir starmer said yesterday that he took full responsibility for the election result in hartlepool & other losses. instead today he's scapegoating everyone apart from himself. this isn't leadership it's a cowardly avoidance of responsibility." earlier, we spoke to our political correspondent iain watson. he talked us through some of the reaction to angela rayaner�*s removal. it seems to have caused quite a bit upset, if you were to look at social media, and at some of the conversations we have had since this news broke within the past hour. one shadow cabinet member is telling us they are flabbergasted that this news. others are saying that in line with john news. others are saying that in line withjohn mcdonnell but a little less robustly, they are saying that if sir keir starmer is saying he's taking responsibility far

labour's sadiq khan holding a narrow lead over his conservative rival shaun bailey in london.boroughs to declare result over the next few hours, so it is a bit too early to jump to any conclusions but at this stage, looking tighter than many were expecting. looking tighter than many were ex-rectin. . 4, looking tighter than many were ex-rectin. ., ,, i. looking tighter than many were ex-rectin. . ~j ,, ., looking tighter than many were ex-rectin. . ~j ., , expecting. thank you. that contest will probably _ expecting. thank you. that contest will probably declare _ expecting. thank you. that contest will probably declare much - expecting. thank you. that contest will probably declare much later. will probably declare much later this evening. let's return to the contest in scotland. newsnight�*s policy editor lewis goodall is at the touchscreen with a closer look. we've been talking about, can the snp still achieve a majority? i know will be snp supporters screaming at the top item that it is notjust about a majority, and that is true, but there has been an argument through this