Barnet and Camden's Labour candidate has conceded defeat before half of the vote has been counted.

Nicky Gavron, the current deputy mayor, said she knew she was not going to beat her Conservative rival, the incumbent Brian Coleman.

Speaking at the count this afternoon she said: "I knew I wasn't going to win, it was a question of reducing the margin.

"I went in to try and stop Brian Coleman from resting on his bling."

However, Ms Gavron is assured of re-election because she is second in the Labour party's proportional list.

As a result, she will retain her seat if her party wins a fraction of the votes in the 'London member' ballot.

She added that it had been vital to ensure a good turn-out, which she claimed would damage Labour's chances but would ensure the BNP lose out.