With the votes still being counted, London is expected to have elected its first Muslim mayor, with Sadiq Khan delivering a resounding victory for Labour, ending eight years of Conservative rule at City Hall.
The official announcement was delayed on Friday evening due to "a small discrepancy" in the vote counting, leaving Mr Khan leading his Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith 44 per cent to 35 per cent after the counting of the first round votes.
Mr Khan capped an assured campaign with a convincing triumph, while Goldsmith faced a growing backlash over a campaign which critics described as “divisive” and dependent on “dog whistle” politics.
His rival Mr Goldsmith’s campaign, by contrast, faced criticism for focusing on attempts to link Mr Khan to Islamist extremists, with whom he had in the past shared platforms or represented during his work as a lawyer. The campaign was also criticised for sending letters to voters targeted according to their ethnic group.
As the outcome of the race became clear, senior Conservatives joined the backlash against the Goldsmith campaign.
Sayeeda Warsi, the former party chairman and the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet said the “appalling dog whistle campaign” had “lost us the election, our reputation and credibility on issues of race and religion”.
Lady Warsi, the former Conservative party chairman, described it as "appalling".
Recriminations even extended even to Mr Goldsmith's own family, with sister Jemima, a journalist and campaigner, tweeting that she was “sad” her brother’s campaign “did not reflect who I know him to be – an eco-friendly, independent minded politician with integrity”.
Steven Norris, a former MP and mayoral candidate, insisted it was "no use having a dog whistle when everybody can hear it".
And Andrew Boff, Conservative group leader on the Greater London assembly, said: “It was ridiculous… I do believe it’s going to affect Conservatives at the sharp end, especially in those parts of London where there is a high Muslim population. I mentioned that I thought this was a mistake for future integration in London. If you are a London politician this is just a bizarre thing to do.”
Former minister and Labour MP for Tottenham David Lammy said voters had reacted against a campaign that he called “divisive” and “laden with smear”.
“Right across London, black, white and brown have gone out and voted for unity,” he told The Independent. “This is the first time an ethnic minority politician has been given a mandate from millions of people,” he added.
"It’s an extraordinary moment, one we can all delight in whatever our political party… Right across the world they will be talking about this election result. It’s a global moment.”
New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted his congratulations to Mr Khan, calling him a “fellow affordable housing advocate” and said he was looking forward to working with his new counterpart.
The win represents a major boost for Labour, which had suffered the humiliation of slipping to third place in Scotland, once a stronghold for the party.
But Mr Khan, a former human rights lawyer, has distanced himself from Corbyn throughout his campaign, particularly over the party leadership's handling of allegations of antisemitism within Labour ranks.
In Wales, Labour lost control of the Welsh Assembly after the totemic seat of Rhondda fell to the Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood.
But in English council elections, the party faired less badly than many pundits had expected – losing only 25 seats of the 1,200 it was defending.
The party also retained control of key councils such as Crawley, Southampton, Norwich and Hastings, where its vote had looked vulnerable.
But critics of Mr Corbyn pointed out that such a result was still nowhere near good enough to win a General Election, while the Labour leader himself admitted that they had “hung on”.
"I don't think that the public see the UK Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn at the moment as being a credible party of future government in 2020,” Ian Murray Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary admitted.
“That's something, after this week's results, we should reflect on.”
Among the other highlights from the day's results:
