Part two of local and mayoral elections as-it-happened

Local and mayoral elections as-it-happened part two

Local and mayoral elections as-it-happened part two

Click here to read part one of local and mayoral elections 2012 as-it-happened

00:12 – Paddick says he married his husband in Oslo. "We should be able to legally marry here too." The rest of the speech is extremely boring. he says he will continue to work for the Liberal Democrats, "We ran an honest campaign based on Liberal Democrat principles. Now more than ever is the time to stand up for what we believe in." Ok, that enough of that.

00:17 – Have some facts and stats. A total of 81% of voters didn't vote for Boris and 82% didn't vote for Ken, due to a 38% turnout. Brian Paddick has recorded the two worst results for Lib Dem mayoral candidates ever and lost his deposit. Ken slashed Boris lead from 2008, which frankly was unexpected. Boris beat Ken by 62k – he won by 140k last time.

00:24 – And here are the final results, without me scrambling all over the place in the heat of the moment:
First preference:
Boris Johnson (Conservative) 971,931
Ken Livingstone (Labour) 889,918
Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats) 91,774
Jenny Jones (Green) 98,913
Siobhan Benita (independent) 83,914
Lawrence Webb (Fresh Choice for London) 43,274
Carlos Cortiglia (British National party) 28,751
Second preference:
Boris Johnson (Conservative) 82,880 + 971,931 = 1,054,811
Ken Livingstone (Labour) 102,355 + 889,918 = 992,273

00:25 – I cut away from the speeches once Benita started. And so did the BBC and Sky, and twitter is full of abuse for them doing so, so I am going to keep my head down about it. Benita complained she was not invited to debates etc, so it's being interpreted as a revenge decision. Possibly true – probably not.

00:27 – Well, that was a big moment. There are of course, many conclusions to come to from the events of the last 27 hours, but they can wait for another day. Some final thoughts, however. Ken is receiving quite a bit of abuse for highlighting media bias in his speech. Given the closeness of the result, it's not too absurd to suggest that the relentless Evening Standard coverage had some effect. Also, whatever you think of him, his decision not to contest another election marks the end of a giant career in London politics.

00:35 – Boris won, but the London Assembly will have more Labour members on it and they will be able to restrict him. Boris' victory has handed Cameron a small nugget of relief on a devastating elections for the Conservatives. That will lessen some of the pain. But in the long term, Cameron has reason to worry about a Conservative who can buck such a sweeping national trend against his party. Those commentators who suggest it is because of his ability to articulate Conservative values are mistaken, as he votes for Labour in London show. This was about charisma, as Galloway's victory in Bradford was, and should be viewed through that prism. As many commentators have pointed out, the only worse for Cameron than Boris losing might be Boris winning.

00:40 – And finally. Third place for the Green party is an impressive result. it will get lost in the Boris and Ken show, but with an MP in parliament and these sorts of results the Greens are showing they can slowly become a relevant political force in Britain.

00:41 – OK, that's it from me. It's been a very, very long election – but an important one. Worth staying up for. Goodnight.