The 2016 London Elections are now over and the city has a new mayor: Sadiq Khan, who is from the Labour’s Party and is the first Muslim mayor in the city’s political history.
The runner-up was Tory Zac Goldsmith, that ended up the race with 994,614 votes. Mr Khan won the election with the 56.8%. Berry, Corbyn, Pidgeon and Whittle lost to Khan as well.
His main goal is to fight inequality in the capital, an aim that has a special meaning since Khan himself comes from a humble Pakistani background.
The Labour’s Party Victory
The largest party at Holyrood Palace was the Scottish National Party with 63 seats while the Labour’s Party held only 24. In this scenario, this victory changes the political scene in Great Britain. In the beginning, the victory for the Labour’s Party (and for Sadiq Khan) seemed certain, at least in the partial results, but voters were able to see the official results more than 24 hours after the polls were closed. The count presented discrepancies but in the end, Khan won the general election.
The Scottish National Party considered that these results will end in a minority-based government. Former minister Michael Dugher considered that the Labour’s Party was not on their way to victory just yet, considering the 2020 election won’t follow the same pattern.
However, winning the Mayor’s office is a major step for the party, since it is the most important personal mandate in UK’s political system.
Khan’s Campaign
The process before the elections was tense. The Conservatives had a tendency to accuse Khan of alleging connections with extremists systems and tactics, speech that ended up in a very controversial campaign that in the end had no real effect against Khan but, on the contrary, analysts and media turned against the Conservative party because of their “tactics”. In the end, voters actually rejected those campaign tactics and made Khan the new mayor of the city.
Zac Goldschmidt, however, stated that he respected Khan, although he was disappointed with the overall results. He also said that he believed Khan was a great example to young Muslims.
Source: The Washington Post