Sally Capp has easily held off her closest rival, former deputy lord mayor Arron Wood, to be returned as Melbourne mayor as she promises to re-energise the city in the wake of the pandemic.

Ms Capp – who was elected in a 2018 byelection following the resignation of Robert Doyle – has been re-elected with 27,949 first-preference votes to Mr Wood's 13,497 and 53.4 per cent of the vote, after preferences.