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By BAGEHOT
Sadiq Khan is set to be declared the new mayor of London, a position to which he has an insurmountable connection. With over 90% of the ballots tallied, he leads his Conservative rival, Zac Goldsmith, 44% to 35%. The resoluteness of his victory is straightforward to comprehend. London is a Labour city; in Britain, as in the rest of northern Europe, the center-left vote has remained more robust in metropolitan areas than elsewhere. Mr. Khan’s compelling story and his platform positioning him as a pro-enterprise, pro-infrastructure, cosmopolitan leader further enhanced his appeal.
In addition to his own strengths, Mr. Khan was also benefited by his opponent’s shortcomings. Mr. Goldsmith appeared as an odd match for the characteristics that Londoners traditionally seek in a mayor. His reserved nature and political positions contrasted with the city’s vibrant and global nature. Moreover, the Tory campaign’s focus on Mr. Khan’s religion was divisive and not in line with the image of the candidate.
The relentless focus on Islam by the Tory campaign was divisive and uncharacteristic of its candidate. In an op-ed last Sunday accompanied by a giant photo of the bus blown up on July 7th 2005, Mr. Goldsmith asked: did Londoners want a leader with terrorists for friends? It is true that Mr. Khan had, for example, appeared on platforms with Suliman Gani, a radical imam. Yet as a prominent British Muslim, a civil liberties lawyer and a big figure in London politics (Mr Goldsmith, too, had appeared alongside Mr Gani), it is only natural that Mr. Khan should have crossed paths with such characters. Dark Tory warnings about his sympathies looked paranoid when set against his broadly liberal record: the MP for Tooting had supported gay marriage (for which he received death threats), fought to keep a local pub open and had condemned recent incidents of anti-Semitism in Labour with a vigour conspicuously unmatched by its leadership.
As the polls have closed, prominent members of the Conservative party have condemned their own campaign. It is clear that their choice to attack Khan’s character did more harm than good to their reputation. Historically, such tactics have not fared well in British politics.