Mr Livingstone won a second term

Mr Livingstone won 36% of first preference votes - 11% higher than his party's score in the London assembly elections.

He extended his lead over Mr Norris when second preferences were added up, comfortably beating the Tory candidate.

But Mr Livingstone said the result showed the Tories were the main threat to Labour at the next general election.

"There is a lot of fantasy politics, with the Liberal Democrats replacing the Tories. Quite clearly that isn't going to happen," he told BBC News 24.

FIRST COUNT Ken Livingstone (Lab) 685,541 Steve Norris (Con) 542,423 Simon Hughes (LD) 284,645 Frank Maloney (UKIP) 115,665 Lindsey German (Respect) 67,731 Julian Leppert (BNP) 58,405 Darren Johnson (Green) 57,331 Ram Gidoomal (CPA) 41,696 Lorna Reid (IWCA) 9,542 Tammy Nagalingham (ND) 6,692 Analysis: Livingstone's victory

He urged Tony Blair to "get back to a traditional Labour agenda" on health and public services, to win the next general election.

For example, he said he wanted to see a commitment to affordable childcare for all by the end of the decade in Labour's manifesto.

In his victory speech, Mr Livingstone, who has been an outspoken critic of Tony Blair's foreign policy, said he was "delighted" to have delivered a Labour victory.

He said it had been "logical and honest" for him to rejoin the party.

'More of a threat'

But he said Mr Norris had been "more of a threat than I would have liked" and had shown "rumours of the death of the Conservative Party have been rather overplayed".

AFTER SECOND PREFERENCES Ken Livingstone (Lab) 828,380 Steve Norris (Con) 667,178

Mr Norris said Mr Livingstone had won the contest "despite Tony Blair not because of him" and he was glad the campaign in London had been fought on the issues.

"I am sorry I lost, but if I had to lose, well, I am proud that I lost to Ken Livingstone. I think his achievement will be regarded as something quite personal and he should take every credit for that," he added.

Lib Dem candidate Simon Hughes hailed his party's progress and said it proved London was "not really a Conservative city, it is not certainly a socialist city, but is increasingly a liberal city".

He urged the incoming mayor to fight for a more just city and to reduce the gap between rich and poor.

Mr Livingstone's victory will be seen as a vindication of Tony Blair's decision to re-admit him to the Labour Party, after he won as an independent in 2000.

It is a rare bright spot for Labour after the worst local election results in the party's recent history.