Khan ‘not first choice’ for some Asians
POLITICIANS EXPLAIN WHY LONDON MAYOR LOST SUPPORT IN THE CAPITAL DESPITE WINNING A SECOND TERM
LONDON-BASED politicians have reflected on Sadiq Khan’s close win as the capital’s mayor, with some pointing to a loss of support within the British-Asian community.
Khan won a second term with a 228,000-vote majority in the London mayoral elections earlier this month. However, the Labour candidate was not first choice for some parts of the capital. His Conservative rival Shaun Bailey received 44.8 per cent of the first and second-round votes, faring better than the initial polls had predicted.
In some boroughs with large Asian populations – including Brent & Harrow and Ealing & Hillingdon – Bailey received more votes than Khan.
Ameet Jogia, a Tory councillor for Harrow, believed Khan had “definitely lost support among the British Asian community”. A lot of the Asian business community felt let down by Khan for not representing them during the pandemic, Jogia told Eastern Eye.
“There was also real anger over the ULEZ (London Ultra Low Emission Zone) extension, which threatened to split communities, punish worshippers and families,” he said.
Jogia added that the mayoral results reflected the decline of the Labour vote across England. The Conservatives added 13 councils and an extra 236 councillors to their overall tally, while Labour lost control of eight councils and 327 councillors.
“I am confident that had normal campaigning been possible, we would have won in London too,” Jogia said.
Conservative MP Bob Blackman said many of his Harrow East constituents cited
Khan’s support of proposed TfL (Transport for London) land development which would see station car parks significantly reduced as a reason for backing Bailey’s campaign.
“For the last five years, we have a mayor who has been more focused on his PR image than helping London,” he told Eastern Eye. “Shaun Bailey’s betterthan-expected performance can largely be attributed to the high crime rate on our streets which is of particular concern to people of Indian origin.”
The Conversative Friends of India (of which Jogia is co-chairman) supported Bailey during his campaign. “Our members fought hard to get our message across, and we were humbled by the response,” Jogia said. “While many had written Shaun off, on the ground it was evident that people wanted change and believed in Shaun’s vision for London.”
While on the campaign trail, Jogia heard from many Harrow residents who said they were “disappointed” by Khan’s representation of London during the pandemic. “Instead of supporting residents, they penalised them,” he said, noting the Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) scheme which is funded by TfL. A LTN area is closed off to through traffic, so people cannot drive through it.
“(LTN schemes) are nonsensical, damaged a lot of passing trade and also made life a misery for many residents,” Jogia said. “In many places the LTNs have actually increased pollution and congestion in areas, as opposed to reducing them.”
The Conservative party worked with local campaign groups in Harrow to collect signatures against the
scheme. This partly helped drive support for Bailey, Jogia believed. “Voters were (…) keen to support Shaun to protect Harrow from overdevelopment and ludicrous schemes such as LTNs,” he said.
Blackman echoed his sentiments, stating the imposition of low traffic neighbourhoods and “ridiculous” cycle lanes added to Khan’s unpopularity.
In Ealing & Hillingdon, Khan had 37 per cent (of first preference votes) compared to Bailey’s 40 per cent.
Virendra Sharma, the Labour MP for Ealing Southall, called Bailey’s campaign “out of touch” and “deeply divided from Londoners”.
However, he believes Khan was hurt by a media narrative which painted him as the easy victor. “Many voters felt comfortable voting for other parties safe in the knowledge they would still have Sadiq as mayor,” Sharma told Eastern Eye. “This wasn’t good for Sadiq and the impression of complacency is never an attractive one.”
Ealing constituents believed they had benefitted from the successful vaccine rollout, Sharma said. Although Bailey had no say on the programme, the MP believes it had an impact on his votes.
“There was a real sense that the efficient and quick delivery of vaccines was a great success,” he explained. “This rubbed off on Shaun Bailey’s votes, despite him having nothing to do with it.”
His constituents also raised concerns on policing, crime and safety. Sharma is actively working alongside locals to reopen Southall Police Station which was closed in 2017. “These are all issues which have been affected by government cuts, but Sadiq has had to implement them,” Sharma noted.
Admitting he was “deeply concerned” by increasing division between British-Asian voters, Sharma said he has seen a difference in the community since his arrival in the UK in the 1960s.
“When I first came to the UK, you would see everyone working together, you would see a shared identity, but that seems to be gone now,” he said. “I think racist elements in this country have succeeded in making small differences between British-Asian communities seem like gaping chasms.”
However, he stressed the Labour party had “no inherent right” to the votes of British Asians.
Sharma said: “While I believe the Labour party is the right vote for British Asians, we owe it to the electorate, every election, to prove it in our words and deeds.”
In response to Eastern Eye, a spokesperson for Khan said he “makes no apology for working to prevent one public health crisis being replaced with another caused by filthy air”.
“The ULEZ is already reducing toxic air pollution by more than a third and its expansion will bring these benefits to millions of Londoners, helping reduce inequalities in impacts of air pollution which hit those from BAME communities especially hard,” they said. “Low-traffic neighbourhoods are helping make our roads safer, enable more people to walk and cycle short journeys and help reduce air pollution.”