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Sadiq Khan beats Zac Goldsmith to become Mayor of London

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Well done Mr Khan! Quite an impressive mandate.
 
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Pakistani bus driver's son becomes first Muslim mayor of London
By Reuters
Published: May 6, 2016
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Sadiq Khan and his wife Saadiya leave after casting their votes for the London mayoral elections at a polling station in south London Britain May 5, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON: Sadiq Khan, the son of a Pakistani bus driver, became London’s first Muslim mayor on Friday, seeing off a Conservative challenger who attempted to link him to extremism and securing a much-needed victory for his opposition Labour Party.

Congratulations to @sadiqkhan-1st Muslim Mayor of London- a city for all cultures, backgrounds & religions. A great example to young Muslims

— Jemima Goldsmith (@Jemima_Khan) May 6, 2016

As New York mayor Bill de Blasio sent his congratulations, Khan had yet to receive official notification of his victory, which would go some way to soothing the wounds of Labour which suffered losses in Thursday’s other local elections.

Dealt a crushing blow in Scotland, where it came third behind the Scottish National Party and Britain’s ruling Conservatives, Labour did better than expected in England, saving its left-leaning leader from an early challenge.

But the big prize was the London mayor vote, which pitted Khan, 45, who grew up in public housing in inner city London, against Conservative Zac Goldsmith, 41, the son of a billionaire financier. A source close to the count said Khan could not now be beaten in the race.

Khan and Goldsmith, London mayoral candidates from different sides of the track

De Blasio said on Twitter: “Sending congratulations to London’s new mayor and fellow affordable housing advocate, @SadiqKhan.”

Sending congratulations to London's new Mayor and fellow affordable housing advocate, @SadiqKhan. Look forward to working together!

— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) May 6, 2016

Khan’s margin of victory looked set to be narrower than expected in a possible sign that a bitter campaign marred by charges of anti-Semitism and extremism and charges of anti-Semitism in Labour ranks might have taken its toll.

The Labour lawmaker replaces Conservative Boris Johnson, who has run the city of 8.6 million people for eight years. A top campaigner for Britain to leave the EU, Johnson is seen as a contender to succeed David Cameron as party leader and prime minister.

The Conservatives were keen to keep hold of the post, which does not run the City of London financial district but has influence over government in lobbying for the capital. The mayor is responsible for areas such as policing, transport, housing and the environment.

Labour selects son of a Pakistani bus driver to stand for London mayor

Accusations

Khan held his lead in the opinion polls, despite accusations by Goldsmith that he has shared platforms with radical Muslim speakers and given “oxygen” to extremists.

Khan says he has fought extremism all his life and that he regrets sharing a stage with speakers who held “abhorrent” views.

The Labour Party accused Goldsmith and the ruling Conservative Party of smearing Khan. Goldsmith denied the charge, saying he had raised legitimate questions over his opponent’s judgment – but the tactics do seem to have backfired with some voters interviewed by Reuters saying they found the campaign “disgusting and slimy”.

A Muslim mayor for London?

While fighting those charges, Khan, a former human rights lawyer, also distanced himself from the newly elected Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, after a row over anti-Semitism.

The Labour leader ordered an inquiry into charges of anti-Semitism after suspending Ken Livingstone, a political ally and a former London mayor, for saying Adolf Hitler had supported Zionism.

The impact of the crisis was difficult to gauge in the election of more than 2,700 local officials and new devolved authorities in Scotland and Wales. Compared to the last regional elections in 2011, Labour’s share of the vote was down 9.2 per cent in Scotland and 7.6 per cent in Wales, allowing a strong showing for the anti-EU UK

Independence Party before a referendum on membership of the bloc on June 23. But, with fewer losses in England than expected, Corbyn was able to rally enough support to prevent an early challenge.

Corbyn, who was elected as party leader last year on a wave of enthusiasm for change and an end to ‘establishment politics’ among mostly younger members, welcomed some of the results and said he would fight to re-establish Labour in Scotland.

“We hung on and we grew support in a lot of places,” he said. But he did little to quell criticism of his leadership in a party which has moved from crisis to crisis, the latest a row over anti-Semitism forcing Corbyn to suspend Livingstone.

Richard Angell, director of Labour activist group Progress, said the party had to refocus on issues that concern voters. “Corbyn need to shake up his operation, kick out Ken Livingstone as a first step to nailing the anti-Semitism problem and focus on voter-friendly policy,” he told Reuters
 
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who else wants Imran's support, please come forward
 
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I met Sadiq Khan in his Office in last days of 2010 while he was an MP from tooting, a part of London. The purpose was to ask him to help end my persecution by British secret services who were working on behalf of CIA and had drugged the London city just like Pakistani puppies like to do here in Lahore on orders of America. He was the best guy with Pakistani roots that I came across when I contacted a lot of British politicians with Pakistani roots. Sadiq Khan talked to me very nicely but said that he could not help me since I was not living in his constituency. He was very nice and polite among other things and I left his office with a great impression despite he had not helped me. Earlier, he had answered all my emails very carefully according to the context. Compare him with another Pakistani based politician Lord Nazir who had been baby fed by british services what to say when he would talk to me. He started insulting me on the phone and while I was midway explaining my purpose to call him, he started asking me to see a doctor and later hung the phone on me. After talking to Nazir, I had the impression of a totally third class badly educated politician like the rich electables we have in Pakistan. Probably, that is why these politicians find good company with him.
 
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Congratulations and wish you much success with your new job.
 
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