Pakistan-origin Sadiq Khan has won the London mayor's election for the third time in a row, with poll results overwhelmingly in favor of the Labour Party, according to the BBC.
Khan trounced his Conservative competitor Susan Hall by almost 276,000 votes, winning nine of the 14 seats, including two Tory gains.
Sir Keir Starmer's party continues to gain ground following Khan's overwhelming victory over his nearest challenger in a race dominated by criticism of his proposal to expand London's ultra-low emission zone.
Keir had signaled his confidence in Khan's triumph before announcements began, citing mayoral victories for his party in Liverpool, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and Greater Manchester, where Andy Burnham had returned to power.
In a new challenge to the prime minister to call an election, Sir Keir said: "Fourteen years and, I am sorry, I don't care which political party you support; if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government for a moment longer."
Khan was required to win a simple majority of ballots cast since the mayoral contest had been modified to a first-past-the-post voting method before the most recent election.
Despite considerable popular outrage over knife violence and the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which charges drivers of older, more polluting cars a daily fee, Khan's third consecutive win was largely predicted.
Khan, 53, who became the British capital's first Muslim mayor in 2016, has promised to develop more social housing and collaborate with a future national Labour administration to increase police capacity.
During a speech at City Hall, Mr. Khan said: "We faced a campaign of non-stop negativity, but I couldn't be more proud that we answered the fear-mongering with facts, hate with hope, and attempts to divide with efforts to unite. We conducted a campaign that reflected the heart and ideals of this magnificent city, one that sees diversity not as a weakness but as an incredible strength, and one that rejects right-wing populism and looks ahead, not back."