Nicky Ford
At the Croydon count

The stage was set and the drama did not disappoint in the Ashcroft Theatre at the Croydon mayoral election count.

A visibly emotional Jason Perry standing for the Conservatives was re-elected by 1,113 votes to win a second term.

He polled 35,871 as opposed to Labour’s Rowenna Davis who took 34,758.

In an interview with BBC London, Perry said: “It’s always hard fought here in Croydon and I’m just glad to be back in this role again.”

The Labour MP for Croydon East Natasha Irons paid tribute to their candidate, and said she fought a great campaign and she looked forward to working with Perry to get things done in Croydon.

He will need to do that against a financially constrained backdrop. Croydon has gone bankrupt three times since 2020.

He said there was "lots to do".

"Our residents backed the journey we’re on," he said. "We’re in a difficult financial situation, it’s difficult across London, difficult across the UK. Croydon’s circumstances are more difficult than most but we’re tackling them head on.”

The Green candidate Peter Underwood polled 19,404 votes and Reform UK's Ben Flook polled 14,467.

Jess Warren
BBC London

Image source, EPA

Speaking in Bexley, south-east London, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, said Nigel Farage "threw the kitchen sink at this council and didn't get anywhere".

"Bexley said no to Reform and do you know why? Because you guys are next to Kent and you saw the mess that they are making," she said, referring to the nearby council Reform UK party took control of a year ago.

Badenoch acknowledged that in Bexley four Tory seats were lost to Reform, but said the party would "keep fighting" and was "renewing" and "rebuilding".

"We are going to work ourselves to the bone to deliver for Bexley, to deliver for London, to deliver for the country," she said.

The Labour Party has lost control of Barnet Council, with the borough now in no overall control.

Labour won 31 seats, down 10 since the last election, while the Conservatives won 31 seats, up nine. The Green Party has one seat on the council.

The Labour Party has retained control of Hounslow Council, with 32 seats, down by 20 on the last election. The Conservatives took 17 seats, a gain of seven seats, and Reform UK gained its first eight seats on the council.

The Green Party, Independents, and Lib Dems also gained seats.

It has now been confirmed that the Conservatives have retained Bexley Council with 29 seats, a loss of four since the last election.

Labour won nine seats, down three, while Reform UK gained its first seven seats on the council.

All but one ward were counted and announced this morning, with the final result now declared.

Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, has praised the party's election results in London.

"You wait years for an elected mayor then two come along at once," he said from the Lewisham count.

The Green Party leader said two-party politics was “dead” as the Greens gained a swathe of council seats in local elections.

Hackney and Lewisham elected Green mayors, marking the first directly elected mayors for the party and ousting Labour in both London boroughs.

The Greens also took control of Waltham Forest council.

Polanski said: “Two-party politics is not just dying, it is dead and it is buried."

The Labour party has lost Southwark Council, with the borough going into no overall control.

Labour took 29 seats, a loss of 23 on the last election. The Greens took 22 seats, and the Lib Dems took 12, a gain of one on the last election.

The Labour Party has retained Barking and Dagenham Council, with 38 seats, down 13 on the last election.

Reform UK took nine seats for the first time, and the Greens also gained their first four seats.

The Labour Party has lost Enfield Council, with the borough going into no overall control.

The Conservatives took 31 seats, a rise of six seats. Labour took 27 seats, a loss of 11, and the Greens gained five new seats.

Professor Tony Travers, from the London School of Economics, said all parties had made gains in the capital.

"We’ve seen a surge this afternoon particularly by the Greens, winning these two mayoralties," he told BBC London.

“I think it was expected the Greens would do well in London, it will be interesting to see how much better they do from now on, if they win more seats on councils."

Travers said Reform UK taking control of Havering would give the party "some comfort". He added: “They didn’t do as well as perhaps they were expecting, we will see, there could be more there too."

“The Conservatives have won back Westminster, and they are the biggest party on Wandsworth and they didn’t lose Bexley - many people including me thought they might," Travers said.

“Although this doesn’t sound great for them, in fact they’ve done rather better in London than outside of London."

He added: “The Liberal Democrats have done very well in their strongholds of Kingston-upon-Thames and Sutton.

“If you add all that together, it’s a sense that everyone has won in London.”

Labour has retained control of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, despite losing 17 seats.

The party took 35 seats, while the Greens took 13 seats and the Conservatives won six, an increase of three.

Reform UK also gained a seat on the council for the first time.

Wendy Hurrell
At the Lewisham count

Liam Shrivastava, Green mayor for Lewisham, has thanked the electorate for their "faith" in him.

“I do not take this lightly and I promise we will not let you down," he said.

“A year ago, I didn't even know if I would be able to continue with politics. On a personal level, the last couple of years have been tough, but something told me that I should go on, that I must go on because I could see hope in the Green Party.

“If we are in an incredibly dangerous, fractious period of history, we have to rise to the challenge, not appease it or legitimise it, but challenge it.”