Boris Johnson gives his victory speech in City Hall, London after he was re-elected Mayor of London. Photo: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire

Boris Johnson has won the London mayoral election.

Boris Johnson has been elected by the public to continue as the Mayor of London.

He held off the challenges of Ken Livingstone (Labour), Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrat), Jenny Jones (Green), Lawrence Webb (UKIP), Siobhan Benita (Independent) and Carlos Cortilga (BNP).

Mr Johnson said he would continue to “fight for a good deal for Londoners”.

Mr Livingstone said “this is the defeat I most regret” and said: “This is my last election.”

The Conservative polled 1,054,811 to the Labour candidate’s 992,273 following a deeply personal and bitter campaign battle that saw the two men clash furiously in public and in private.

Jenny Jones, for the Green Party, finished in third place, with Lib Dem candidate Brian Paddick in fourth.

Independent hopeful Siobhan Benita came a credible fifth.

Counting, which is carried out electronically, was dogged by delays, pushing back the result back significantly on original predictions that it would be announced in the early evening.

They included a power cut at Alexandra Palace as well as the reprocessing of two mislaid batches of ballot papers in the Brent and Harrow constituency.

Labour secured eight of the London Assembly’s 14 first-past-the-post constituencies, gaining two from the Tories, which left them with six.

Results:

(First Count)

*Boris Johnson (C) 971,931 (44.01%, +0.81%)

Ken Livingstone (Lab) 889,918 (40.30%, +3.30%)

Jenny Jones (Green) 98,913 (4.48%, +1.28%)

Brian Paddick (LD) 91,774 (4.16%, -5.64%)

Siobhan Benita (Ind) 83,914 (3.80%, +3.58%)

Lawrence Webb (UKIP) 43,274 (1.96%, +1.03%)

Carlos Cortiglia (BNP) 28,751 (1.30%, -1.58%)

Eliminated: Siobhan Benita, Carlos Cortiglia, Jenny Jones, Brian Paddick, Lawrence Webb

(Second Count)

Distribution of Benita’s, Cortiglia’s, Jones’s, Paddick’s and Webb’s votes

*Boris Johnson (C) 1,054,811

Ken Livingstone (Lab) 992,273

Elected: Boris Johnson

Electorate 5,804,790; Turnout 2,208,475 (38.05%, -5.81%)

Greater London Returning Officer John Bennett said: “I want to give a huge thank you to all those involved in running the election. It takes a cast of thousands to make sure the election runs smoothly and that Londoners can get on with the business of choosing the Mayor for the next four years.”

“The months of hard work by staff at London’s boroughs, at London Elects and at our suppliers has meant that voters could have their say on who runs London.”