Khan said: "Fear does not make us safer - it only makes us weaker

London has elected its first Muslim mayor, with Sadiq Khan delivering a resounding victory for Labour and ending eight years of Conservative rule at City Hall. As the results were finally announced well after midnight on Saturday morning, Mr Khan said: "This election has not been without controversy. I am so proud that London has chosen hope over fear and unity over division. I hope we will never be offered such a stark choice again."

Mr Khan lead his Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith by a total of 315,529 votes when the second preference votes were counted and reallocated. He received 1,310,143 votes, higher than for any previous London Mayor. This amounted to 57 per cent of the total final votes to Mr Goldsmith's 43 per cent (994,614 votes). Turnout was 45.6 per cent, up f-rom 38 per cent in 2012. 

Mr Khan capped an assured campaign with a convincing triumph, while Goldsmith faced a growing backlash over a campaign which critics described as “divisive” and dependent on “dog whistle” politics.

Mr Khan said that he was "deeply humbled" by the trust that voters had put in him. He also paid tribute to his mother, and his late father, saying: "My dad would be so proud that the city he chose to call home has chosen one of his children to be Mayor." 

Referring to the often contentious campaign, Mr Khan said: "Fear does not make us safer - it only makes us weaker. And the politics of fear is simply not welcome in our city." 

Mr Goldsmith's campaign faced criticism for focusing on attempts to link Mr Khan to Islamist extremists, with whom he had in the past shared platforms or represented during his work as a lawyer. The campaign was also criticised for sending letters to voters targeted according to their ethnic group. 

At the announcement, Mr Goldsmith paid tribute to Mr Khan, and said: "I wish him well as he sets out to build on the successes that we've seen under Boris Johnson and to take it even further."

As the outcome of the race became clear, senior Conservatives joined the backlash against the Goldsmith campaign. 
 

Sayeeda Warsi, the former party chairman and the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet said the “appalling dog whistle campaign” had “lost us the election, our reputation and credibility on issues of race and religion”.

Lady Warsi, the former Conservative party chairman, described it as "appalling".

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