Sadiq Khan has a narrow lead over Shaun Bailey in the early stages of Mayoral race

By Joe Talora, local democracy reporter

Sadiq Khan currently has a narrow lead over Shaun Bailey in the early stages of the race to become Mayor of London.

While some opinion polls had predicted that Sadiq Khan would win comfortably on first preference votes alone, he is currently separated from his Conservative rival by only one per cent.

Mr Khan currently has 38 per cent of first preference votes, while Shaun Bailey is close behind on 37 per cent.

But the Labour candidate is still expected to win when second preference votes are taken into account.

Votes are being counted over two days, with seven constituencies being counted today and the remaining seven to be counted tomorrow (May 8).

Labour had feared that a low turnout in the mayoral election would benefit the Conservatives, with Sadiq Khan yesterday saying on social media that “if you don’t vote, they could win again”.

According to the constituencies that have so far verified their ballots, turnout is down slightly from 2016.

Voters will have to wait until tomorrow (May 8) evening or Sunday (May 9) morning to find out who the next Mayor of London will be.