The mayor of London has responsibilities covering policing, transport, housing, planning, economic development, arts, culture and the environment.

The biggest changes in vote share were for Labour, who saw a fall of 6.5%, and the Liberal Democrats, who were up 6.1%, compared to the previous 2017 general election.

[9] All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in London aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the mayoral election.

This included "maximising" CCTV coverage of London as an alternative to increasing the number of police officers and giving automatic jail terms for acid attacks.

[46] In December 2020, Bailey published leaflets with City Hall branded claiming that Khan was raising council taxes by 21.2%.

Lawyers for the Labour Party referred the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service, saying that the leaflets were illegally fraudulent under the Representation of the People Act 1983.

On 24 January 2021, Rose and six of his staff were fined by the police for breaking lockdown rules while filming promotional material for his campaign.

[53] The Times reported that officials in the Conservative Party had twice tried to remove Bailey as their candidate, but had decided not to as they could not find a "credible alternative".

This included investing in the West End to attract tourism and supporting people who had lost their jobs to find new work.

[74][75] He said he would offer interest-free loans to black cab drivers to pay for 10% of the cost of an electric vehicle, and promised to make TfL's bus fleet zero-emission by 2025.

[77] On tax and the economy, Bailey said he would lobby the government to allow the Greater London Authority to keep the full amount of business rates paid, rather than 75%.

[78] On 19 April, Bailey said that, if elected, he would "visibly make a difference" to crime in the first hundred days by increasing police patrols and "boost" usage of stop-and-search.

[77][82][83] Berry published her manifesto in April, which included plans to establish a fund to introduce repair centres and a library of things in each borough.

[77] Her manifesto included a proposal to extend London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover the entire city, and a goal to cut traffic in terms of the number of miles travelled by 40% by 2026.

[85] On tax and the economy, she proposed a "Creative Autonomy Allowance" scheme whereby 1,000 young artists and entrepreneurs would be paid a monthly income for three years to support the start of their careers.

[87] On crime, Berry pledged to reduce the number of murders in the city to zero in ten years by investing in preventative measures.

The pay-as-you-go scheme would work by charging drivers based on "the number of journeys you make, the distance travelled, the type of vehicle you have, the level of emissions that produces", and its proceeds would go towards TfL's funding.

[97] In April, Fox proposed six months of free bus and London Underground travel, saying that the increase in economic activity would pay for the cost of lost fares, which he said would be £500 million.

"[110] Mandu Reid, the Women's Equality Party candidate, said that if elected she would offer an extension of the national government's programme of 30 days free childcare to eligible London residents who were retraining after losing their jobs.

She also said that she would reallocate money Khan had planned to use to fund more police on the street to 'establish a specialist squad within the Met "to rebuild trust and get justice" for women suffering violence, as part of a "perpetrator strategy"'.

[111] Piers Corbyn, the candidate for the Let London Live party, told the BBC that he would "end lockdown on day one" if he were elected.

[110] Valerie Brown, the Burning Pink candidate, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday 8 May, between the election and the announcement of the results.

[15][130] Bailey had been endorsed in the party's selection process by the Evening Standard, as well as Conservative police and crime commissioners Anthony Stansfeld, David Lloyd, Matthew Scott and Roger Hirst.

Initially, the party had selected Siobhan Benita, a former senior civil servant and 2012 independent candidate for London mayor.

After last-placed Lucy Salek was eliminated and second preferences among her voters tallied, Benita had a majority of the votes cast and was chosen as the party's candidate.

[159][160] However, on 27 July 2020, Benita announced her withdrawal from the candidacy, saying she was unable to commit to another year of campaigning following the election's postponement to 2021 given the unpaid nature of the role.

[196][non-primary source needed] London-based rapper Drillminister had announced his candidacy as an independent candidate, campaigning on reducing homelessness, improving transport, increasing mental health support, diversifying the Metropolitan Police Service and rehabilitation to curb crime and improving air quality in the capital.

[199] Winston McKenzie, an activist and perennial candidate, had also announced he was intending to stand for the party he founded and leads, Unity in Action.

Fosh told the BBC that he made about £4,500 from YouTube videos of his campaign, a net loss of £5500 taking into account his lost deposit, but that he also gained followers.

Omilana did not answer the BBC's enquiries on this matter, but Hussein Kesvani estimated he would make back his lost deposit through increased YouTube revenues.