Ed Sheeran’s song Thinking Out Loud has become the slowest sleeper No 1 since the advent of the official singles chart. Nineteen weeks after entering the top 40, X’s third single has finally crowned the UK list, unseating Meghan Trainor’s All About That Bass.

Thinking Out Loud has sold more than 365,000 copies since its release in July, almost a quarter of which came in the past seven days. It was also the most-streamed song of this week. No other single has ever spent so long in the top 40 before reaching peak position; according to the Official Charts Company, the closest runners-up include Celine Dion’s 1994 hit Think Twice, which spent 13 weeks climbing the chart, and Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World, from 1968, which took 11 weeks.

Sheeran has described Thinking Out Loud as the “favourite song [he’s] written” and his favourite song on X. That record, which is currently at No 2, was the fastest-selling album and longest-running UK No 1 of the year so far. This week it was no match for 1989, Taylor Swift’s second consecutive chart-topper, but remained well ahead of Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour and I Forget Where We Were, by Ben Howard, which was last week’s No 1 album.

Edinburgh hip-hop group Young Fathers are also up on the charts after winning the Mercury prize on 29 October. First released in February, their album Dead has made its chart debut at No 35. Although it has only sold a few thousand copies since winning the music award, that represents a sales boost of 4460%, according to the Official Charts Company, and is enough to double Dead’s total sales.

Unfortunately, none of the other Mercury finalists seem to have received that much of a boost from last week’s gala. Only two other artists – Royal Blood and Jungle – have albums in the top 40, and only half of the 12 nominated albums are in the top 100.

Official singles chart top five

1. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud

2. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass

3. Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

4. Jessie J ft Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande - Bang Bang

5. Jeremih ft YG - Don’t Tell ‘Em

Official albums chart top five

1. Taylor Swift - 1989

2. Ed Sheeran - X

3. Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour

4. Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were

5. George Ezra - Wanted on Voyage