London has its first Muslim mayor

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London has its first Muslim mayor

8:39 CAT | 06 May 2016

PA / Sadiq Khan arrived at City Hall with wife Saadiya, right, for the London Mayor announcement tonight

Sadiq Khan was declared the first Muslim Mayor of London tonight after comfortably defeating Tory rival Zac Goldsmith.

In a glimmer of light for Jeremy Corbyn from an otherwise dire set of election results, emerging results at City Hall made it clear there was no route to victory for Mr Goldsmith.

The official declaration is due shortly but elections expert Michael Thrasher tonight declared the contest was over based on figures already released.

The bitterly contested battle had seen Mr Goldsmith and David Cameron repeatedly raise Mr Khan’s ties to extremists.

But the interventions did not sway voters in the capital – and the Prime Minister is now facing a massive Conservative backlash over the tactics.

Mr Corbyn welcomed the victory by tweeting: ‘Can’t wait to work with you to create a London that is fair for all.’

Mr Khan scored more than a million votes on the first round alone and appeared likely to rack up the largest individual mandate in British electoral history once second preference votes were included.

Mr Khan and his family were met by a huge group of reporters as he arrived at London's City Hall for tonight's declaration of the crucial mayoral race — Mr Khan and his family were met by a huge group of reporters as he arrived at London’s City Hall for tonight’s declaration of the crucial mayoral race

Steven Norris, a former MP and mayoral candidate, insisted it was ‘no use having a dog whistle when everybody can hear it’ as he led criticism of Mr Goldsmith’s campaign.

Andrew Boff, the Conservative leader on the Greater London assembly, said the strategy had been a mistake and could damage relations with the Muslim community.

Roger Evans, a deputy to Boris Johnson at City Hall, also weighed in, warning that Mr Goldsmith’s campaign would leave a ‘negative legacy’.

In a remarkable broadside on the Tory mayoral candidate, Mr Boff said his party’s tactics could damage relations with the Muslim community.

Roger Evans, a deputy to Mr Johnson, also weighed in, warning that Mr Goldsmith’s campaign would leave a ‘negative legacy’.

And former Conservative mayoral hopeful Steven Norris pointedly said there was ‘no use having a dog whistle when everybody can hear it’.

Former Tory chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi said: ‘Our appalling dog whistle campaign for London Mayor 2016 lost us the election, our reputation & credibility on issues of race and religion.’

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio led international congratulations to the new London Mayor, tweeting: ‘Sending congratulations to London’s new Mayor and fellow affordable housing advocate, @SadiqKhan. Look forward to working together!’

The negative campaign run by the Tories looks set to have failed as a YouGov survey suggested Mr Khan is likely to be 11 points clear of his Tory rival on the first round of voting before he finishes even further ahead once other candidates are eliminated.

The poll indicates Mr Khan is set to shake off the toxic anti-Semitism row which has engulfed Labour for the past week.

Outgoing mayor Mr Johnson today thanked the capital for his eight years in office as he sent his final messages from the official London Mayor Twitter account.

He tweeted: ‘It’s time to sign off from City Hall – it’s been the most amazing privilege to be your mayor.’

Minutes after the polls closed in the London mayoral election last night, Mr Boff criticised Mr Goldsmith’s strategy for focussing on Mr Khan’s apparent links with radical Muslims, telling the BBC: ‘It was effectively saying that people of conservative religious views are not to be trusted and you should not share a platform with them.

‘That’s outrageous.’

He added Mr Goldsmith had ‘done real damage’ and had ‘blown up bridges’ that the Tories had built with London’s Muslim communities, adding it was a mistake to ‘equate people of conservative religious views with sympathising with terrorism’.

‘I mentioned that I thought this was a mistake for future integration in London. If you are a London politician this is just a bizarre thing to do,’ he said.

‘I do believe it’s going to affect Conservatives at the sharp end, especially in those parts of London where there is a high Muslim population.’

Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith, pictured on the campaign trail, faced a firestorm of criticism from the Tories after losing heavily

Mr Evans told BuzzFeed: ‘I’m concerned that the campaign we’ve run is going to leave a negative legacy which we in London are going to have to clear up long after the the people who ran Zac Goldsmith’s campaign have gone on their way.

‘I’ve been the deputy mayor for the last year and it’s been my job to go and talk to communities in London,.

‘I’ve always been very pleased with the courtesy with which I was received and the hearing all communities were willing to give to a Conservative politician.

‘We’re going to have to do quite a lot of work to re-establish trust with a lot of communities in London, that’s a shame and an opportunity missed.’

The final poll, by YouGov for the Evening Standard, suggested a comfortable win for Mr Khan today – forecasting a 57 per cent to 43 per cent margin for the Labour candidate.

Voters in the London Borough of Barnet reported problems at polling stations yesterday and said they were being turned away and told to come back later.

If the result across London proves to be closer than expected, the difficulties in Barnet could provide the basis for a legal challenge to the whole result.

Richmond MP Mr Goldsmith launched a 24 hour campaign blitz, making visits across the capital to venues including a kebab shop, milk round and a street market to try and avert defeat earlier this week.

And in the Commons earlier this week, Mr Cameron used Prime Minister’s Questions to build on the controversial campaign to link Labour to extremism.

He angrily challenged Mr Corbyn over alleged links to Hamas and Hesbollah.

Mr Corbyn initially tried to dodge the issue, insisting: ‘I have made it very clear Labour is an anti-racist party and there is no room for anti-Semitism.’

But under intense pressure he then conceded that any group that committed racist or anti-Semitic acts was ‘no friend of mine’.

The attack came after Israeli ambassador Mark Regev delivered a thinly-veiled attack on politicians who ’embrace’ Hamas, the armed wing of which is banned in Britain as a terrorist group.

Source: Daily Mail UK