Blake was announced the winner at tonights ceremony at the Roundhouse in London, having been voted by a panel of music industry professionals. His win comes as something of a surprise, beating bookies favourite Laura Mvula, who was the pick to win for her debut, ‘Sing to the Moon’. Rudimental and Foals were also considered more likely bets than Blake.

The electronic musician from London had already seen one nomination for the prestigious award, when his self-titled debut was shortlisted in 2011, losing to PJ Harvey’s, ‘Let England Shake’.

Opening his acceptance speech with, ‘Well, I lost a bet’, Blake kept the speech short and sweet, thanking his parents and three friends, before leaving the stage without his award, necessitating an awkward return to the platform.

The ceremony, featuring performances from several of the nominated acts, saw a brief hitch at the beginning when the televised broadcast was interrupted for several minutes.

A reminder of the nominees:

• Arctic Monkeys – ‘AM’
• James Blake – ‘Overgrown’
• David Bowie – ‘The Next Day’
• Disclosure – ‘Settle’
• Jake Bugg – ‘Jake Bugg’
• Foals – ‘Holy Fire’
• Jon Hopkins – ‘Immunity’
• Laura Marling – ‘Once I Was An Eagle’
• Laura Mvula – ‘Shout to the Moon’
• Rudimental – ‘Home’
• Savages – ‘Silence Yourself’
• Villagers – ‘(Awayland)’

Check out a sample from James Blake’s Mercury Prize winning album, the track, ‘Retrograde’ below: