Coronavirus: London mayoral and assembly elections postponed as pandemic continues
A woman wearing a face mask mask in central London. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire - Credit: PA
This May’s mayoral and London Assembly elections have been postponed for up to a year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has added the votes to the long list of public and sporting events to be cancelled during the coronavirus outbreak.
The news broke on Friday afternoon.
The Electoral Commission had written to the government to recommend the move, but earlier indications from Downing Street suggested the PM might choose not to postpone the polls.
Whenever rescheduled, Labour's Sadiq Khan will be seeking a second term at the helm of City Hall.
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Across the country elections scheduled for May 7 will now no longer take place.
In its advice to the government, the Electoral Commission warned it had found it difficult to find staff willing to man polling stations given the ongoing health emergency.
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Other mayoral candidates include Shaun Bailey for the Conservatives, former government minister Rory Stewart, standing as an independent, Siobhan Benita for the Lib Dems, Sian Berry for the Greens, and Women's Equality Party candidate Mandu Reid.
On Friday the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK rose to 790.
