American Democrats who call London home said they felt "particularly lucky to live on this side of the pond" as Donald Trump stood on the brink of a stunning White House return.
Republicans and Democrats packed out the Passyunk Avenue bar in the shadow of the American Embassy in Nine Elms as it screened results throughout Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Every American in the bar that the Standard spoke to said they had voted for Kamala Harris or declined to say who they had supported.
A group wearing "Make America Great Again (MAGA)" hats who appeared to be Trump supporters refused to speak to the Standard, saying the mainstream media "has no journalistic integrity".
Harley Berry, 20, from Philadelphia, has lived in London for two years and this is the first time she has voted.
She said: “It’s a huge privilege as an American to vote, especially as a woman and I believe that Kamala will be the lesser of two evils, that will protect our democracy as well as minority rights.”
She added that Trump had run a “hateful campaign”.
“I try to hold a lot of empathy for Trump supporters," she said. "I just think he is very good at evoking the emotions he does.”
Asres Viseur, 35, whose family are from New Jersey, has lived in London for 16 years but is moving to Philadelphia in three months time for work.
He voted for Harris and said the key issues for him were “divisiveness in America”, foreign policy "particularly Israel Palestine" and the US economy.
“I honestly believe [Harris] has the better policies, more serious in politics and better for the world overall,” he said. “And frankly I can’t stand Trump as a person.”
David, originally from New York, has lived in the UK for 17 years. He voted for Harris and said "London is home to me now".
Asked what he thought of a Trump win, he added: “I feel particularly lucky to live on this side of the pond.”
Stub, a writer originally from Dallas, Texas, declined to say who he had voted for, but added: “It’s a close election. It’s democracy in action I guess.”
Patrick Dietz, 25, from Arizona, has lived in London for two years.
He said: “Democracy was a main issue, freedoms, rights [but] there was no specific key issue. I just agreed with one candidate more across the board than the other.”
When it was announced that Trump was predicted to win North Carolina shortly before 5am, one man in a MAGA hat and orange high vis jacket whooped and shouted "it's done".
Meanwhile there was a glum atmosphere at a gathering of UK-based Democrats in central London.
One party supporters said the night has “got worse and worse” for Ms Harris.
Jill Turetzky, who voted in South Carolina, said: “I showed up today really excited. I was just watching everything that Kamala's done, I'd read her autobiography - I love her.
“And it started going wrong and got worse and worse. There are still some states and it is still possible, but it's very, very unlikely.”
Ms Turetzky, 55, said she was “sad” about how the election night had unfolded.
She added: “You can look around the room, there were more than 400 to start and now so many people have gone.
“People can come back for breakfast but I don't know how many people are actually going to come back.”
