Labour candidate Sadiq Khan’s imminent election as London’s first ethnic-minority and Muslim Mayor in the poll held on May 5 will reinforce the city’s credentials as one of Europe’s more diverse and inclusive capitals.
The contest was, however, bitterly fought, and over the very issues — extremism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, race and religion — that have cleaved populations in other European capitals like Paris and Brussels.
New opportunities
The near certain victory of 44-year old Sadiq Khan — who urged voters to choose “hope over fear” — would be historic. Not only because he would be the first Muslim Mayor, but because his is also the story of new opportunities that have grown alongside very specific forms of immigrant disadvantage in London over four decades.
Mr. Khan, with roots in Pakistan, tells of his personal journey as a city boy with pride. Although the son of a bus driver and a seamstress mother, he recalls that growing up on a council estate in South London “meant my family had a secure and affordable home. It gave my parents the chance to save their hard earned money — my dad’s wages from his job, and what my mum was able to put aside from making clothes.”
His campaign struck a chord in a city in which ethnic minorities constitute three million of a population of over 8 million. Representation of ethnic minorities is the highest here with 16 per cent of councillors being non-white.
Charges fall flat
Unsurprisingly, the allegations thrown at Mr. Khan by his Conservative opponent Zac Goldsmith, of harbouring extremist sympathies and links, and of fanning anti-Semitism did not stick. In a tactic deplored even by his own party members, Mr. Goldsmith sent leaflets to Indian-origin voters warning that they would lose their family jewellery through a heirloom tax.
The UK voted on May 5 to the Assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, 124 councils in England, and three mayoralties.
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