Tens of thousands of people have celebrated in the streets of Istanbul after an opposition candidate became mayor-elect of Turkey’s largest city following a repeated vote.

Ekrem Imamoglu spoke to the crowd after unofficial returns showed him more than 777,000 votes ahead of his opponent, who conceded defeat earlier in the night.

Mr Imamoglu told the cheering crowd: “We will work a lot for Istanbul starting tomorrow.”

Istanbul election
Mr Imamoglu represents the secular opposition Republican People’s Party (Onur Gunay/Imamoglu Media team/AP)

He promised to end political divisions in Istanbul from the hard-fought election and to “bring morals to politics”.

Supporters chanted as Mr Imamoglu repeated his campaign catchphrase: “Everything will be great.”

Impromptu celebrations also broke out in several Istanbul areas.