By Joe Talora
SADIQ KHAN has extended his lead over Conservative rival Shaun Bailey as the Mayor of London election count enters its second day.
Despite being an initially tight race for most of yesterday, the Labour candidate now has a five per cent lead over Bailey.
Of the seven London constituencies being counted on Saturday (8), five are held by Labour, which suggests that Khan’s lead is likely to increase.
As more constituencies are counted, Shaun Bailey’s share of first preference votes has fallen from a high of 38 per cent yesterday to 35 per cent currently, while Sadiq Khan is currently on 40 per cent.
Though Khan is unlikely to win on first preference votes alone, as some opinion polls had predicted, he is expected to win when second preference votes are taken into account.
Elsewhere, Green Party candidate Sian Berry is currently on eight per cent of first preference votes, while Liberal Democrat Luisa Porritt sits on four per cent.
As things stand, 17 of the 20 candidates in the mayoral election are set to lose the £10,000 deposit required to run for mayor.
Concerns have been raised over the layout of the mayoral ballot paper, however, with more than 42,000 ballots papers having so far been rejected because more than one candidate was selected as a first preference.
The results of the mayoral election and London-wide Assembly seats are expected to be revealed later this evening or Sunday (9) morning.
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)
