The ultimate victor of the Havering and Redbridge London Assembly seat is now too close to call, with just two per cent between the leading candidates.
With 60 per cent of the vote counted, Conservative Party incumbent Roger Evans leads Labour’s Mandy Richards by a narrow margin.
They had been separated by eight per cent, in favour of Mr Evans, when about a third of votes were counted.
Mr Evans has been the borough’s London Assembly representative since the body was founded in 2000.
Lawrence Webb, of the UK Independence Party/Fresh Choice for London, is third with Malvin Brown of the Residents’ Association of London fourth and Liberal Democrat candidate Farrukh Islam recovering to fifth after a slow start when the first ballot papers were counted at ExCel.
In the mayoral election, Conservative Boris Johnson is clearly ahead of Labour rival Ken Livingstone among Redbridge voters, with about 40 per cent of ballot papers still to be counted.
• Keep checking the Ilford Recorder website and www.london24.com for latest updates.
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