Ed Holder is London's new mayor after historic vote

Ed Holder is the 64th mayor of the City of London after the first ranked ballot vote in modern Canadian municipal history. 

The former Conservative MP replaces Matt Brown, a former one-term city councillor and teacher with the Thames Valley District School Board. Brown was elected mayor in 2014 on a platform of integrity and teamwork, but served only one term after a scandal erupted halfway through his tenure. 

The new mayor was declared the winner on Tuesday, the day after the polls closed. The counting process took longer than normal because, in order to win, a candidate must receive more than 50 per cent of the vote.

Because Holder did not receive an absolute majority on the first ballot, the last-place candidate was eliminated with their supporters' second-choice votes redistributed among the remaining candidates. 

In the end, it took 14 rounds of counting until Holder received more than 50 per cent of the vote. He beat second place finisher, Paul Paolatto by 13,312 votes. 

Work ahead

With the mayoralty secure, Holder must now square his shoulders and get to work, including the simmering controversy over London's 10-year, $500 million bus rapid transit project. 

• 6 new councillors elected in London as ranked ballots results finalized

Holder ran on a platform that was opposed to the colossal city transit project, which could be in doubt, if a majority of councillors vote to shelve the project. 

Holder will lead a city council made up of some familiar faces in civic politics, with many incumbents, such as Phil Squire, Josh Morgan, Jesse Helmer, Mo Salih, Michael VanHolst, Stephen Turner, Maureen Cassidy, Anna Hopkins and former city council veteran Paul Van Meerbergen. 

Incumbents who lost their seats in Monday's vote were Bill Armstrong, Viriginia Ridley and Jared Zaifman. 

The new faces on council include Shawn Lewis, who won in Ward 2, Steve Lehman in Ward 8, Elizabeth Peloza in Ward 12, Arielle Kayabaga in Ward 13, Steven Hillier in Ward 14.