London — Sadiq Khan became London’s first Muslim mayor Saturday, as voters rejected attempts to taint him with links to extremism and handed a decisive victory to the bus driver’s son from south London.
Khan hailed his victory as the triumph of “hope over fear and unity over division.”
His win was the most dramatic result in local and regional elections that produced few big changes but underscored Britain’s political divisions ahead of a referendum on whether to remain in the European Union.
Labour Party candidate Khan received more than 1.3 million votes — 57 per cent of the total — to Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith’s 43 per cent, after voters’ first and second preferences were allocated.
Turnout was a relatively high 45.6 per cent, up from 38 per cent in 2012.
Khan’s victory seemed certain for hours from partial results, but the official announcement came past midnight — more than 24 hours after polls closed — after delays due to what officials called “small discrepancies” in the count.
