Joe Biden elected the 46th president of the USA

Joe Biden was elected the 46th president of the US after victory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania propelled him past the 270-vote Electoral College threshold, ending Donald Trump’s hopes of re-election. 

Mr Biden was declared president-elect four days after polls closed, marking the conclusion of a bitter presidential race that was fought against the backdrop of a pandemic that has killed more than 228,000 Americans. 

He has also been declared the winner in Arizona and Nevada, and leads Mr Trump in Georgia. 

His victory signalled the end of one of the most tumultuous eras in US history as Mr Trump, a New York property developer turned reality television star, took aim at the norms of American politics, pursuing a populist agenda at home and an “America First” stance abroad. 

Mr Biden, a 77-year-old son of working-class Scranton, Pennsylvania, became the oldest candidate elected to the presidency. 

Having served for nearly four decades in the US Senate and eight years as Barack Obama’s vice-president, Mr Biden promised to unify the nation after the tumult of the Trump years. 

His running mate, Kamala Harris, will be the first African-American woman and first person of Indian descent to serve as vice-president.