‘Appalling’ Zac is crushed by Mayor Khan
ZAC Goldsmith was lambasted by fellow Tories last night – and his own sister – for running an ‘appalling dog whistle’ campaign for London Mayor which ended in a crushing defeat to Labour’s Sadiq Khan.
Recriminations flew over the decision by the multi-millionaire MP to run a campaign, backed by Number Ten, which linked his opponent with Muslim extremists.
The tactic backfired, with Mr Khan winning the acrimonious contest by a landslide nine points after the first round. In taking back the mayoralty from the Tories and Boris Johnson after eight years, Mr Khan becomes London’s first Muslim mayor.
As the result was announced, Mr Goldsmith’s sister Jemima Khan denounced his campaign.
She said on Twitter: ‘Sad that Zac’s campaign did not reflect who I know him to be – an eco-friendly, independent-minded politician with integrity.’
In another tweet she wrote: ‘Congratulations to @sadiqkhan – 1st Muslim Mayor of London – a city for all cultures, backgrounds & religions. A great example to young Muslims.’
Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi, the first female Muslim minister to attend Cabinet, tweeted: ‘Our appalling dog whistle campaign for #LondonMayor2016 lost us the election, our reputation & credibility on issues of race and religion.’ A string of other senior Tories savaged the Goldsmith camp for the decision to hit Mr Khan with claims that he associated with people of radical and extremist views.
The most senior Conservative in the London Assembly, Andrew Boff, said the tactics used by the Goldsmith camp were ‘ridiculous’ and had ‘blown up’ bridges with the Muslim community.
On the BBC’s Newsnight, he said of the campaign: ‘It was effectively saying that people of conservative religious views are not to be trusted and you shouldn’t share a platform with them. That’s outrageous.’
Last night one backbench Tory MP told the Mail the campaign had been ‘incompetent’ and the attacks on Mr Khan’s character ‘ill-judged and distasteful in the extreme’. ‘Zac also didn’t appear as if he wanted to do it,’ the MP added.
Mr Khan almost won the contest on the first round of balloting, securing 44.2 per cent of the vote compared to Mr Goldsmith’s 35 per cent.
The victory gives him the largest mayoral mandate in British electoral history – outstripping the votes secured by Mr Johnson and Ken Livingstone when they won the mayoralty.
Labour was also the biggest party in the London Assembly, winning nine out of 14 seats.
Over recent months, the Goldsmith camp highlighted Mr Khan’s links to radical Islamists, both in politics and when he worked as a human rights lawyer before entering the House of Commons.
Only this week, Mr Goldsmith wrote that electing Mr Khan, 45, would hand control of the Metropolitan Police to someone who had ‘repeatedly legitimised those with extremist views’.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Tories of running a ‘vile’ campaign. However, a Downing Street source defended the campaign, saying it was in no way racist, and was right to highlight Mr Khan’s links to extremists.
Mr Khan has pledged to stand down as an MP, prompting a byelection in the marginal seat of Tooting, South London.
‘Ill-judged and distasteful attacks’