London election results live: Sadiq Khan is named capital’s new mayor

Sadiq Khan has made history by being named London’s first Muslim Mayor…Official results are expected to be announced by 10pm but Mr Khan was the clear winner by about 7pm.

I predicted it. That doesn’t stop it being a sadness to see my ancestoral home no longer a home for the likes of me. 

The office of Mayor of London is a new one, born of the changes through multiculturalism wrought by Tony Blair. Do not confuse it with the ancient office of Lord Mayor of London (cf Dick Whittington) who runs the City of London. This is a post set up in 2000 to administer the conurbation of ‘Greater London’ for political reasons. Sadiq Khan is only the third incumbant; the first was Ken Livingstone so this terrorist-supporting (in)human rights lawyer is not the latest in a chain of honourable and illustrious men.   Having said that, he will have a certain amount of power, a substantial budget and responsibilities which he can use ‘wisely’. 

The furore over the Labour party’s anti-semitism doesn’t seem to have affected voting. I didn’t expect it to. Those people who would be shocked and dismayed at Labour’s prejudice stopped voting for Labour some time ago. There are too many people in the electoral demographic of London to whom anti-semitism and or anti-zionism/anti-Israel is a Good Thing. 

Meanwhile indigenous Londoners who live on the edges of Greater London (what during Boris Johnson’s campaign a few years ago was called the doughnut) still voted for Zac Goldsmith. And we do not yet know the final result as to how much the vote was affected by the chaos in Barnet yesterday morning, and thus whether the Conservative party will challenge the result. I suspect the result will stand. And those indigenous Londoners who live outside London in Essex continue to support UKIP. 

UKIP have won six seats on Thurrock Council, missing out on being the largest party by a single vote.

I think of Sadiq Khan and his victory as yet another pilonidal cyst. Painful: they have to be endured until one day they are an excruiating pilonidal abcess. And then it can be lanced. An unpleasant procedure but life is soooo much better afterwards. Or so I am told. 

One of his own pictures from his twitter account. Even his promo snaps are segregated and lets not mention his public meetings. 

Sadiq Khan MP on Twitter: “Good to be back at Kingston mosque for Friday prayers and to meet with local residents today