LABOUR CANDIDATE SADIQ Khan looks set to become the first Muslim leader of an EU capital today as London voters go to the polls.
After a bad-tempered campaign, two surveys yesterday gave the Labour son of a bus driver a lead of up to 14 points over Zac Goldsmith, his multimillionaire rival from the Conservative party.
After a final rally with Cameron, Goldsmith campaigned overnight in a last-minute push for votes, meeting traders at the Billingsgate fish market and helping deliver milk at dawn in the upmarket district of Kensington.
Khan has distanced himself from a scandal over anti-Semitism in the national Labour party and has defended himself against attacks from Goldsmith for failing to condemn Muslim extremists.
10 candidates
There are 10 other candidates to replace Conservative Boris Johnson as mayor, a position that has responsibility for transport, policing, housing and promoting economic development, but none of them have a chance.
An Opinium survey for the Evening Standard newspaper put Khan on 35% compared to 26% for Goldsmith. His lead lengthened once second preference votes were taken into account, to 57% against Goldsmith’s 43%.
A second poll, by ComRes for LBC radio and ITV London news, put Khan on 45% and Goldsmith on 36% on first preference votes, moving to 56% and 44% on second preferences.
The race for the mayoralty has been marked by negative campaigning between two very different candidates.
Khan, 45, is the son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver who grew up in social housing and worked first as a human rights lawyer before rising to be a government minister.
Goldsmith, 41, an environmentalist and Conservative lawmaker, is the son of late tycoon financier James Goldsmith.
‘Smear tactics’
Khan has repeatedly been accused during the campaign of support for Islamic extremists, which his team has condemned as smear tactics.
A Daily Mail piece written by Goldsmith was illustrated using images of the 7/7 bombings.
There was fresh controversy yesterday when footage emerged of a 2009 interview in which Khan said government attempts to engage the Muslim community could not just focus on “Uncle Toms”.
A spokesman said his use of the phrase, often used against black people to suggest they are subservient to white people, was a “bad choice” and he “regrets using it”.
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