Labour’s Sadiq Khan Leads in London Mayoral Race

Labour’s candidate Sadiq Khan holds an 11-percent lead over his closest rival from the ruling Conservative party in the London mayoral race, the last-call opinion poll published Thursday has found.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Londoners are electing a successor to Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson. Khan, son of a bus driver and a Muslim lawyer, has been touted as a favorite alongside Tory’s Zac Goldsmith.

Results of the May 2-4 YouGov UK survey show Khan in the lead with 43 percent as the first preference. He is trailed by Goldsmith, a billionaire environmentalist, who is second with 32 percent.

UKIP’s Peter Whittle and the Green candidate Sian Berry share the third place with just 7 percent of votes, while Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon is supported by 6 percent of respondents.

Voters in London are asked to select candidates of the first and second preference. If neither contender secures 50 percent of first preference votes, the top two will be picked and second preference votes added to their vote totals to determine the winner.

Fifty-seven percent of those polled chose Sadiq Khan as their second preference. Zac Goldsmith is the second choice for 43 percent of sampled Londoners.