Tag: Featured

    Zac Goldsmith's sister Jemima has criticised how his campaign for London mayor was run, while former Tory Cabinet minister Baroness Warsi called it an "appalling dog whistle campaign". Tactics used in the fight for the post were branded a mistake by a senior Tory, while others have questioned the impact on the party. Ms Goldsmith tweeted: Sad that Zac's campaign did not reflect who I know him to be an eco friendly, independent-minded politician with integrity. She also congratulated Sadiq Khan, who is set to become London's first Muslim mayor, calling him a "great example to young Muslims". Their brother Ben Goldsmith later took to Twitter to defend him, claiming: "Labour planned to paint Zac as a racist from the start. The questions asked of Sadiq were legitimate." Barone...

    Sadiq Khan has secured victory as London mayor, with Labour winning in more constituencies than the Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith. Khan had 44 per cent of first preference votes, with Goldsmith trailing on 35 per cent. Green candidate Sian Berry looks likely to come in third place with six per cent of the vote. London wide turnout looks set to reach as high as 45.6 per cent, up 7.6 per cent on 2012. Goldsmith got off to a good start as the Conservatives secured an early win in Bexley and Bromley, but went on to win just five more constituencies to Khan's eight. The Tory candidate also won in Barnet and Camden, Croydon and Sutton, Havering and Redbridge, South West and West Central. However, Khan took the rest (and some by quite a large margin): Brent and Harrow, Cit...

    The party's candidate has consistently held a solid lead over Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith, who is perceived to have suffered from running a negative campaign that controversially sought to link Mr Khan to extremism. And shadow chancellor John McDonnell set the Labour Party on the right path for success in the General Election in four years time. Labour has fought a strong campaign, working hard for every vote, standing up for working people who have been let down by the Tory party," he said. "If we can narrow that gap, we will demonstrate steady progress. "What we are looking to do is build over the next four years so that we steadily, steadily build our support and then we are ready for 2020." Shadow international development secretary Diane Abbott said a win for Mr ...

f     The London mayoral election started with an absolute shambles in one borough as voters were turned away from polling stations given incomplete electoral lists. Hundreds of residents in Barnet said they were told they could not vote without their polling card, while some carrying the document said they were also refused. Arjun Mittra, a Labour councillor for East Finchley ward, said the logistical nightmare affected every one of the borough’s 155 polling stations. Out of the seven people who came to my polling station in the first 10 minutes, only one was able to vote. She had come at 7am to vote because she was going away for the day, she said she was disenfranchised. It's a disgrace. For the first half an hour after voting started the majority of voters were turned away,...