Ed Sheeran claims this year's Christmas number one over Wham!

22 December 2017, 17:45 | Updated: 31 January 2018, 17:05

Ed Sheeran has continued his utter chart dominance by securing the Christmas number one for 2017.

The singer-songwriter's track 'Perfect' clung on to the top spot to earn him his first festive chart topper. The song has three different versions - including duets with Beyoncé and Andrea Bocelli - which all counted as the same entry.

Ed also featured in second place, as his collaboration with Eminem on the rapper's track 'River' finished as the runner-up, following the US star's new album getting a surprise release last week.

Despite a fierce fan campaign, Wham! classic 'Last Christmas' had to settle for the third place position. Fans of George Michael were hoping to get the song to number one for the first time as a tribute to the singer, who died on Christmas Day last year.

If the charts were still based purely on sales, then Wham! may have stood a better chance, as the song topped download charts for most of the week.

However, there's still a chance that the song could climb up to number one next week, as there's still plenty of Christmas playlists to be listened to yet...

Elsewhere, Mariah Carey's classic 'All I Want for Christmas is You' finished at number four, while The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's 'Fairytale of New York' is at seven.

13 more Christmas classics finished in the Top 40, including the original 1984 version of Band Aid’s 'Do They Know It’s Christmas?' at 12, Brenda Lee’s 'Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree' (14) and Shakin’ Stevens’ 'Merry Christmas Everyone' (15).

Elton John’s 'Step Into Christmas[ achieves a brand new peak of 18, Chris Rea’s 'Driving Home For Christmas' finishes at 20, Michael Buble’s version of 'It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas' is at 22, and Wizzard’s 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' is at 23.

Slade’s 'Merry Xmas Everybody' (29), Ariana Grande’s 'Santa Tell Me' (32), John Lennon's 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' (35), Leona Lewis’ 'One More Sleep' (36), Andy Williams’ 'It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year' (37) and Paul McCartney’s 'Wonderful Christmastime' (38) complete the Christmas rout.