London may elect first Muslim mayor, after ugly, 'dog-whistling' campaign
Source: CNN
London may elect first Muslim mayor, after ugly, 'dog-whistling' campaign
By Tim Hume, CNN
Updated 2327 GMT (0727 HKT) May 5, 2016
London (CNN) - Londoners will find out Friday if they have elected the first Muslim mayor of any major Western city, after an unusually bitter campaign in which race and religion have proven ugly flashpoints.
The race between Labour's Sadiq Khan, son of a bus driver, and Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith, son of a billionaire, has seen the latter accused of peddling "vile race politics" in his campaign against his rival.
Khan, a 45-year-old lawyer and member of Parliament, is the London-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and a practicing Muslim in a city where his co-religionists comprise about 12% of the population.
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The campaign took a particularly vicious turn when Goldsmith, trailing his rival in polls, penned a controversial column in Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper on May 1.
Sayeeda Warsi ✔ ?@SayeedaWarsi
This is not the @ZacGoldsmith I know.
Are we @Conservatives fighting 2 destroy Zac or fighting to win this election?
8:31 AM - 1 May 2016
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Read more:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/05/europe/uk-london-mayoral-race/