<P> The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election . It was the fifth election to the position of Mayor, which was created in 2000 after a referendum in London . The election used a supplementary vote system . </P> <P> The election was won by Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting, Sadiq Khan, who polled 56.8% of the votes in the head - to - head second round of voting over Conservative MP for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith . Goldsmith was more than 25% ahead of the next candidate in the first round of voting, as part of a record field of twelve candidates . Of the twelve candidates only Khan, Goldsmith, and Green Party candidate Siân Berry achieved the requisite 5% minimum first round vote share to retain their deposit . </P> <P> This was the first election to not feature either of the two previous holders of the office, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, who had run against each other in 2008 and 2012 . Johnson, as incumbent mayor, had chosen not to stand for re-election for a third term in office, having been elected as the Conservative Party MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the 2015 general election . The campaign was dominated by the personal battle between Goldsmith and Khan, and their contrasting class and ethnic backgrounds . Through his victory, Khan became the second Labour Party Mayor of London after Livingstone, and the first Muslim mayor of a European Union capital city . </P> <P> The first announcement of the first round results indicated that Khan was leading . However, this count was later retracted, and official results were delayed pending errors in counting which reportedly misattributed "hundreds" of votes . When the full result including second preference votes was announced at about 00: 30, Khan increased his lead over Goldsmith . </P>

In 2016 london elected its first blank mayor