UPDATE: Boris Johnson has been elected Mayor of London.
The Conservative candidate seized City Hall from Labour's two-term incumbent Ken Livingstone with Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick in third place.
Mr Johnson polled 1,168,738 votes to Mr Livingstone's 1,028,966. After second preferences were allocated, Mr Johnson achieved around 53% to Mr Livingstone's 47%.
The result heaped further pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown after his party plunged to its worst council election results in four decades.
Mr Johnson is the first Conservative mayor since the post was created and comes in on a wave of record voting numbers.
Conservative leader David Cameron was among the first to congratulate Mr Johnson.
Mr Cameron hailed a "serious and energetic" campaign and "remarkable" victory.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article