Black smoke emerges at Vatican as conclave fails to elect pope

Plumes of black smoke have emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signalling that the 133 cardinals inside have failed to elect a new pope on the first day of conclave. After the formal procession to the Sistine Chapel and each of the cardinals swearing the oath to secrecy, the first voting round only got under way at 5.45pm local time. Then all eyes were on the famous chimney, which was diligently guarded by a seagull for some of the time the cardinals were voting. After a tense wait, black smoke finally appeared at 9:05pm – to loud applause from the crowd of more than 45,000. The conclave will continue on Thursday and end only when a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month aged 88, is found Black smoke signals first day of Vatican conclave has failed to elect new pope How does the conclave work and when will a new pope be chosen? Who will be the next pope? Leading candidates for the conclave to consider