Headlines
Pakistani Muslim Sadiq Khan elected as London Mayor
London, May 7
Choosing 'hope over fear', Londoners elected their first Muslim mayor on Thursday as Labour's Sadiq Khan comfortably romped home despite a xenophobic and Islamophobic campaign run by his Conservative opponent that even invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name to garner Hindu votes.
The 45-year-old Pakistani-origin Khan won 57 percent of the vote to easily beat Zac Goldsmith (43 percent). His tally of 1,310,143 votes gives him the largest personal mandate of any politician in British history, The Guardian reported.
Seeking to put behind him a campaign that saw his rivals portraying him as an "extremist" and distributing pamphlets aimed at Hindus, Sikhs and Sri Lankans, Khan said that his victory showed that "Londoners have chosen hope over fear and unity over division".
Son of a Pakistani bus driver who grew up to become a human rights lawyer, an MP and later transport minister in the Gordon Brown government - making him the first Muslim minister to attend a cabinet meeting -- Khan's is the quintessential heart warming immigrant success story.
With his win, Khan - London's third mayor after Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone - has ended eight years of Conservative control of City Hall and helped boost the morale of party leader Jeremy Corbyn on a day Labour were beaten into third place in Scotland by the Tories and had a poor showing in England and Wales.
As Khan's victory seemed inevitable, critics slammed the divisive Conservative campaign, labelling it "very foolish" and one that leaves behind a "negative legacy" in a highly cosmopolitan city.
Even Goldsmith's sister Jemima - former wife of Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan - tweeted that it was "sad that Zac's campaign did not reflect who I know him to be".
During the campaign, Muslim groups complained the mayoral contest had sunk to "disturbing lows", with the Conservatives being accused of trying to exploit racial tensions to help Goldsmith win.
Customised leaflets addressed to Hindu, Sikh and Tamil voters mentioned subjects such as Narendra Modi, the 1984 killing of Sikhs in India and the Sri Lankan civil war.
One leaflet had a picture of Goldsmith meeting Modi on a visit to London, and pointed out that Khan did not. Another alleged that the Labour party would tax gold jewellery owned by many Indian families, which was seen as a bid to stoke community tensions.
Khan, whose grandparents migrated to newly-created Pakistan in 1947 and whose parents arrived to Britain just before he was born in 1970, will now be faced with the task of implementing an ambitious manifesto programme.
He has promised to freeze fares of public transport for four years and ensure that half of all new homes built in London would be "genuinely affordable", even as he becomes London's "most pro-business mayor yet".
As expected, in much of the Western world, the focus was not on Khan's abilities as a politician, but on his religion.
Common headlines in Europe included: "The first Muslim mayor of London", "First Muslim mayor of a major European capital" and "The green millionaire vs the leftwing Muslim".
Across the Atlantic, the Drudge Report headlined its developing story on the election as "Muslim mayor of Londonistan", using the pejorative sobriquet to refer to British government's tolerance of diversity.
The word figured in the title of a 2006 book, 'Londonistan': How Britain is Creating a Terror State Within', by the British journalist Melanie Phillips about the spread of Islamism in Britain.
The 45-year-old Pakistani-origin Khan won 57 percent of the vote to easily beat Zac Goldsmith (43 percent). His tally of 1,310,143 votes gives him the largest personal mandate of any politician in British history, The Guardian reported.
Seeking to put behind him a campaign that saw his rivals portraying him as an "extremist" and distributing pamphlets aimed at Hindus, Sikhs and Sri Lankans, Khan said that his victory showed that "Londoners have chosen hope over fear and unity over division".
Son of a Pakistani bus driver who grew up to become a human rights lawyer, an MP and later transport minister in the Gordon Brown government - making him the first Muslim minister to attend a cabinet meeting -- Khan's is the quintessential heart warming immigrant success story.
With his win, Khan - London's third mayor after Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone - has ended eight years of Conservative control of City Hall and helped boost the morale of party leader Jeremy Corbyn on a day Labour were beaten into third place in Scotland by the Tories and had a poor showing in England and Wales.
As Khan's victory seemed inevitable, critics slammed the divisive Conservative campaign, labelling it "very foolish" and one that leaves behind a "negative legacy" in a highly cosmopolitan city.
Even Goldsmith's sister Jemima - former wife of Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan - tweeted that it was "sad that Zac's campaign did not reflect who I know him to be".
During the campaign, Muslim groups complained the mayoral contest had sunk to "disturbing lows", with the Conservatives being accused of trying to exploit racial tensions to help Goldsmith win.
Customised leaflets addressed to Hindu, Sikh and Tamil voters mentioned subjects such as Narendra Modi, the 1984 killing of Sikhs in India and the Sri Lankan civil war.
One leaflet had a picture of Goldsmith meeting Modi on a visit to London, and pointed out that Khan did not. Another alleged that the Labour party would tax gold jewellery owned by many Indian families, which was seen as a bid to stoke community tensions.
Khan, whose grandparents migrated to newly-created Pakistan in 1947 and whose parents arrived to Britain just before he was born in 1970, will now be faced with the task of implementing an ambitious manifesto programme.
He has promised to freeze fares of public transport for four years and ensure that half of all new homes built in London would be "genuinely affordable", even as he becomes London's "most pro-business mayor yet".
As expected, in much of the Western world, the focus was not on Khan's abilities as a politician, but on his religion.
Common headlines in Europe included: "The first Muslim mayor of London", "First Muslim mayor of a major European capital" and "The green millionaire vs the leftwing Muslim".
Across the Atlantic, the Drudge Report headlined its developing story on the election as "Muslim mayor of Londonistan", using the pejorative sobriquet to refer to British government's tolerance of diversity.
The word figured in the title of a 2006 book, 'Londonistan': How Britain is Creating a Terror State Within', by the British journalist Melanie Phillips about the spread of Islamism in Britain.
Sadiq Khan has been elected the new Mayor of London - boosting Labour after it slumped in Scotland's elections.
Khan was the city's first Muslim mayor, after beating Tory Zac Goldsmith by 1, 310,143 votes to 994, 614.
The result bolsters leader Jeremy Corbyn after Labour were beaten into third in Scotland by the Tories and lost some English councillors.
In Scotland, the SNP said it would form a minority government after winning its third election in a row.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is celebrating what she said was an "emphatic" victory, her first as party leader, after the SNP emerged as the largest party at Holyrood with 63 seats, ahead of the Conservatives on 31 and Labour on 24.
But she played down talk of another independence referendum after falling short by two seats of an overall majority.
In Wales, Labour remains as the largest party, with 29 out of 60 seats, but was denied a majority as Plaid Cymru and UKIP both made notable gains. Counting is continuing in Northern Ireland.
Khan's victory ends eight years of Conservative control of City Hall. The former Labour MP and minister, 45, becomes London's third mayor after Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson.
In his victory speech, Khan referred to his humble origins on a council estate and said he had never imagined that "someone like me could be elected as mayor of London," promising to be a mayor "for all Londoners".
He said the campaign had not been without controversy, but added: "I am so proud that London has today chosen hope over fear".
He added that the "politics of fear is not welcome in our city".
Khan took 1,310,143 votes after second preferences were taken into account, beating Conservative Zac Goldsmith into second place on 994,614, a margin of victory of 13.6%. His tally gave him the largest personal mandate of any politician in Britain history.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn led congratulations on Twitter using the hashtag YesWeKhan and telling the new mayor: "Can't wait to work with you to create a London that is fair for all".
Khan has never tried to hide his faith. He memorably tweeted to his main rival, the Conservative’s Party’s Zac Goldsmith, at one point: “Hey @ZacGoldsmith. There’s no need to keep pointing at me & shouting ‘he’s a Muslim.’ I put it on my own leaflets.â€
He told The Washington Post on the campaign trail earlier this week: “I want to be the British Muslim that defeats the extremists, defeats the radicals. I’ve got a plan of how we can keep London safe.â€
Election officials said Khan defeated Goldsmith by more than 300,000 votes, after first- and second-preference votes were allocated, the Associated Press reported. The result came early Saturday, more than 24 hours after polls closed. Khan will replace Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson.
The result would bolster leader Jeremy Corbyn after Labour were beaten into third in Scotland by the Tories and lost English councillors.
In Scotland, the SNP said it would form a minority government after winning its third election in a row.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is celebrating what she said was an "emphatic" victory, her first as party leader, after the SNP emerged as the largest party at Holyrood with 63 seats, ahead of the Conservatives on 31 and Labour on 24.
But she played down talk of another independence referendum after falling short by two seats of an overall majority.
In Wales, Labour remains as the largest party, with 29 out of 60 seats, but was denied a majority as Plaid Cymru and UKIP both made notable gains. Counting is continuing in Northern Ireland although it has been a good day so far for the DUP and Sinn Fein.
Khan's expected victory would end eight years of Conservative control of City Hall. The former Labour MP and minister, 45, would become London's third mayor after Johnson and Ken Livingstone.
Although the result has yet to be declared he got 44.2 percent of first preference votes to Mr Goldsmith's 35.6 percent - second preference votes are now being counted with Khan set to pass the crucial 50 percent mark when they are added in.
The result had been due to be announced early evening on Friday but has now been delayed, with organisers London Elects saying they are "working towards a declaration at midnight".
"The returning officer is currently updating candidates and agents. There were some small discrepancies with regard to the mayoral figures and we have to take the time to check them," a spokesman said.
