London Mayor Khan slams foreign investors for leaving homes empty

London Mayor election 2016: What time is the result and what did the final polls say?

6 May

Counting has begun in the London mayoral election, with the winner announced this evening.

Voters took to the polls yesterday to choose a replacement for Boris Johnson. Final opinion surveys point to a win for Labour's Sadiq Khan.

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In addition, votes for the 25-seat London Assembly are being counted, with the majority of seats expected to be declared at around 3pm. The winner of the London mayor race is due to be named between 5pm and 10pm.

Two last-minute polls, published in the London Evening Standard, gave Khan a 14-point lead over Conservative Zac Goldsmith once second preferences were factored in.

The Labour politician's lead briefly narrowed in the wake of his party's anti-Semitism scandal last week, but his campaign appears to have escaped the row relatively unscathed. In fact, he managed to erode Goldsmith's lead in the outer London boroughs from last month's poll, putting the two candidates neck-and-neck as the race entered its final stretch. Within inner London, Khan held a comfortable lead of 43 per cent to Goldsmith's 21 per cent.

Trustworthiness appears to be a determining factor. Londoners said they trusted Khan more on five key issues, including employment, transport and crime. When it came to the top issue of the campaign, housing, he was rated trustworthy by 32 per cent of respondents, compared to only 18 per cent for his Richmond Park MP rival.

There are twelve candidates vying to become the third person to hold the London mayoralty, after Johnson and Ken Livingstone.

They include:

• Sian Berry (Green Party)
• David Furness (British National Party)
• George Galloway (Respect)
• Paul Golding (Britain First)
• Zac Goldsmith (Conservative)
• Lee Harris (Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol)
• Sadiq Khan (Labour)
• Ankit Love (One Love Party)
• Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrats)
• Sophie Walker (Women's Equality Party)
• Peter Whittle (UKIP)
• Prince Zylinski (Independent)

Voters turned away from polling stations in Barnet

5 May

Londoners trying to cast their vote in the mayoral and assembly elections today have been turned away from polling stations in Barnet due to incomplete electoral lists.

"There were furious scenes at some polling stations as voters learned they were being deprived of their vote," says the Standard

It remains unclear exactly how many people were affected by what staff called a "printing error".

"Out of the seven people who came to my polling station in the first ten minutes, only one was able to vote," Arjun Mittra, a Labour councillor for the East Finchley ward, told The Independent. "I had one lady who was crying because she was so upset."

Barnet Council has apologised and urged voters to return to polling stations if they can. Some of those unable to do this have been given an emergency proxy vote.

"Barnet has a record of problems on election day but the experience today has been a total shambles," said Andrew Dismore, Labour's London Assembly candidate for Barnet and Camden.

Sian Berry, the Green Party's candidate for mayor, suggested re-opening polling stations in the borough tomorrow morning.

"It's vital that whoever wants to vote in Barnet should be given the chance to do so, otherwise it would be a travesty of democracy," she said.

London Mayor election 2016: Sadiq Khan leads in last-minute poll

04 May

Sadiq Khan remains on course to become the next mayor of London, according to the latest survey.

With election day around the corner, the London Evening Standard's final poll gives the Labour MP 35 per cent of first preference votes, a nine-point lead over Zac Goldsmith, who is down a point on last month to 26 per cent. With second preferences, he is predicted to receive 57 per cent of the votes to his Tory rival's 43 per cent.

Khan's lead briefly narrowed in the wake of his party's anti-Semitism scandal, but his campaign appears to have escaped the row relatively unscathed. In fact, he has managed to erode Goldsmith's lead in the outer London boroughs from last month's poll, putting the two leading candidates neck and neck as the race enters its final stretch. Within inner London, Khan holds a comfortable lead of 43 per cent to Goldsmith's 21 per cent.

Trustworthiness appears to be a determining factor. Londoners trust Khan more on five key issues, including employment, transport and crime. When it came to the top issue of the campaign, housing, he is rated trustworthy by 32 per cent of respondents, compared to only 18 per cent for the Richmond Park MP.

However, a low predicted turnout means it is still either candidate's race, politics professor Tony Travers told the Standard. "The big question is whose supporters will fail to turn out on the night – and most people think that the lower it goes, the better it is likely to be for Zac Goldsmith," he said.

Khan's camp won't be popping the champagne just yet, then, but it certainly looks wise to put some bottles on ice.

Infographic by www.statista.com for TheWeek.co.uk.

London Mayor election 2016: Lord Sugar attacks Sadiq Khan

25 April

Lord Sugar has launched a scathing attack against London mayoral frontrunner Sadiq Khan.

With less than two weeks to go until the polls, the businessman and former Labour peer has penned a column in The Sunday Times urging voters not to back the Tooting MP.

Citing Khan's role in Ed Miliband's leadership campaign, as well as his nomination of Jeremy Corbyn, Lord Sugar said the politician "has single-handedly wrecked the Labour Party, and now he's turning his finely honed judgment on the great city of London".

The Apprentice star went on to argue that Khan's main offer to voters "isn't his policies; it's that he's the Muslim son of a bus driver".

Condemning the MP's plan to seek business advice from the unions, Lord Sugar said: "It's Groundhog Day all over again. Ken Livingstone ran for election on an almost identical platform."

Khan, who has long vowed to be the most business-friendly mayor the capital has seen, refused to be drawn into a war of words with Lord Sugar when asked for his response.

"I'm going to have a positive campaign for the next ten days, like I've had for the last three months," he told the Press Association yesterday.

"I've got support from across London – chief executives, start-ups, entrepreneurs, as well as bus drivers, cleaners, teachers."

Speaking to reporters after addressing London Metropolitan University today, Khan once again criticised the "desperate, negative" tactics employed by his rivals during the campaign to be London mayor.

"I think this Donald Trump approach to politics, trying to divide communities, turn them against each other – I don't think will work in London," he told The Guardian.

London Mayor election 2916: Goldsmith accused of 'repulsive' politics

22 April

Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate for London Mayor, has been accused of running a racially and religiously divisive campaign akin to that of US presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Peter Oborne, the former chief political columnist at the Daily Telegraph, described the politician's attacks against Labour rival Sadiq Khan as "the most repulsive I have ever seen as a political reporter".

Goldsmith has described his Muslim rival as "radical" and defended comments by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon that he is a "Labour lackey who speaks alongside extremists". Leaflets distributed to London's Asian communities have also been described as "stereotypical and patronising" by local Labour and even Tory councillors.

Writing in the Middle East Eye, Oborne says Goldsmith seemed "decent and non-partisan" when he first entered politics a decade ago. He had planned to vote for him to replace Boris Johnson next month, but "wild horses could not make me do so now".

He continues: "Goldsmith's attempt to stir up sectarian division by turning on a single community is horribly reminiscent of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the US."

The "barrage of propaganda" from Goldsmith's camp "very worryingly… comes right from the top", adds the journalist, referring to David Cameron's comments in the Commons this week.

Despite being a life-long Conservative voter, Oborne says he will be "proudly voting for Khan" when Londoners head to the polls on 5 May.

"I urge everyone, including Tories, to do the same," he says. "Consider this: if Goldsmith's campaign succeeds it tells every single British Muslim that there is no role for them anywhere in the British democratic system."

However, Goldsmith has continually denied he has done anything wrong. Defending his use of the word "radical", he told The Guardian that such tactics were "necessary in this campaign because I am up against somebody who poses a real danger to London".

Voters, however, seem to disagree. The latest YouGov poll for the London Evening Standard gives Khan a 20-point lead over his Tory rival in the final round of the contest.

"Sadiq is on course for victory, built on his party's core vote, while Zac Goldsmith is left with a mountain to climb," said YouGov's Laurence Janta-Lipinski.

London Mayor Election 2016: PM called a 'racist' after attacking Sadiq Khan

20 April

David Cameron has been accused of joining an Islamophobic campaign against Labour's London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon, Cameron claimed the Muslim candidate had repeatedly shared a platform with preacher Suliman Gani, a man who "supports IS [Islamic State]", he said. Gani has strenuously denied supporting Islamic State.

"Anyone can make a mistake about who they appear on a platform with but if you do it time after time after time, it is right to question your judgement," he told the Commons.

The Prime Minister's comments sparked cries of "racist" from Labour MPs, with leader Jeremy Corbyn shouting: "That's disgraceful and you know it."

Tooting MP Khan responded to the attack on social media, where he was supported by many of his party colleagues, including the former shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna.

Conservatives, led by their party's mayoral candidate, Zac Goldsmith, have long accused Khan of having shared platforms with extremists while he worked as a human rights lawyer and chairman of Liberty.

"The Tories have been frustrated that this story about Khan and Gani has failed to gain traction," says The Spectator, suggesting the PM's remarks were "designed to push it onto the national news agenda".

Khan has repeatedly confronted these allegations, "saying he regrets ever giving the impression that he shared the views of extremists", The Guardian reports.

Labour MP Rachel Reeves dismissed Cameron's comments as "gutter politics" and said the insinuation that Khan is a friend of Islamic State "is beyond contempt".

"I served in the shadow cabinet with Khan for many years," she said. "He is a man of the utmost integrity. He has taken on extremism in the Islamic community and on many occasions he has fallen out with leaders in the Islamic community, for example, on equal marriage."

No 10 defended the PM's position, saying it was "perfectly legitimate" for him to call Khan's judgment into question.

Chris Grayling, the leader of the Commons, backed up the Prime Minister, saying his comments had "nothing to do with Islamophobia".

With Khan holding onto a solid lead in the polls and the clear favourite to replace Boris Johnson next month, The Guardian argues that the PM's intervention "smacks of desperation".

"But sometimes mudslinging and dirty tricks can work, and it is not clear whether or not attacks like this are having any impact in the mayoral contest," the newspaper adds.

London Mayor Election 2016: 'Questions to be asked' about the veil, says Sadiq Khan

15 April

London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan has questioned why young Muslim women in London choose to wear the veil.

If he wins the May election, Khan would be the first Islamic mayor of London. The Labour candidate is currently ahead in the polls and the clear favourite to replace Boris Johnson next month.

Speaking to the London Evening Standard, the Tooting MP said he was concerned about the growing number of women in London who are choosing to cover their faces and bodies.

"When I was younger, you didn't see people in hijabs and niqabs, not even in Pakistan," he said. "What you see now are people born and raised here who are choosing to wear the jilbab or niqab."

He added: "There is a question to be asked about what is going on in those homes. What's insidious is if people are starting to think it is appropriate to treat women differently or that it has been forced on them. What worries me is children being forced to adopt a lifestyle."

Surveys have shown in the past that the majority of British people would support a ban on the full-face veil.

It remains a hugely controversial issue, with many arguing it is a form of oppression.

But others say that for a lot of women, wearing the veil is a personal choice and it is offensive and patronising to believe that Muslim women lack the ability to make that decision.

"It's not for me to tell women what to wear," says Khan.

However, he thinks women who work in the public service should consider not covering their faces. "Eye contact matters. You should be able to see the face," he says.

Khan also revealed that there was "no other city in the world" where he would prefer to raise his two daughters than London.

"They have rights, they have protection, the right to wear what they like, think what they like, to meet who they like, to study what they like, more than they would in any other country," he said.

London mayor election 2016: Race to replace Boris gets more personal

12 April

The two main candidates vying to become the next mayor of London have exchanged fresh jibes as the race to succeed Boris Johnson enters its final weeks.

Labour candidate and current frontrunner Sadiq Khan has accused his Conservative rival, Zac Goldsmith, of running a "nasty and negative" campaign focused on personal attacks.

"I've tried to engage Goldsmith in a battle of ideas," the Tooting MP said. "I have talked about the issues Londoners care about – the housing crisis, the soaring cost of transport, the cuts to neighbourhood policing – and what the mayor can do to fix them.

"But instead, he has run a negative campaign focused on attacking me personally. His bleak and desperate campaign is typical of the chaos that has engulfed the Tories in recent weeks."

Early on in the race, Goldsmith was accused of launching a coded racist attack on his Muslim rival after describing Khan as "radical and divisive". Defence Secretary Michael Fallon further inflamed the debate last month by claiming the Labour candidate was "unfit" to be mayor because he "speaks alongside extremists".

Khan has since warned that such attacks could dissuade young Muslims from entering politics. "It bounces off me – I've got thick skin – but I worry about the impact on young ethnic minority kids, especially young Muslims," he told the Observer last week.

Goldsmith's team today launched its own attack, dismissing Khan's flagship policy to freeze transport fares for four years as "financial illiteracy".

Transport Secretary Patrick Mcloughlin further criticised the plan, telling City AM it "would cost £1.9bn to deliver, but [Khan] doesn't have a credible plan to pay for it".

The Tories accused Khan of planning to increase council taxes in order to fund the policy, but the Labour MP insisted he opposed any price hikes.

It all comes as the two men prepare to go head to head at a debate in London tonight and "sets the scene for an explosive final few weeks of the campaign", says City AM.

London mayor election 2016 polls: Sadiq Khan holds onto solid lead

8 April

With less than a month to go until Londoners choose their next mayor, Labour candidate Sadiq Khan is holding onto his lead in the latest polls.

The Tooting MP is comfortably ahead of the pack, with 44 per cent of the first round vote, according to a ComRes poll for ITV London/LBC.

His main rival, Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, has 37 per cent, while the Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon trails in third with just seven per cent.

The survey predicts that a run-off between the two main candidates would result in a win of 55 per cent for Khan and a 44 per cent share of the vote for Goldsmith.

A separate Opinium survey for the London Evening Standard predicts a similar final result, with a 54-46 win for the Labour candidate.

The poll results come after Goldsmith stumbled through an awkward interview with the BBC's Norman Smith.

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Sitting in the back of a black cab, the politician failed to correctly answer quick-fire trivia questions about London, including naming the location of the Museum of London and the Underground station that comes after Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road on the Central Line.

He was, however, able to get one question right – Goldsmith correctly identified the first proprietor of the Queen Vic, the fictional pub in EastEnders.

Despite the polls, the race to succeed Boris Johnson as London mayor is far from over and Goldsmith shouldn't be written off just yet, says the New Statesman's Stephen Bush.

"It may be that Khan's path to victory is not as clear as Labour might hope," he writes.

"Assume for a moment that turnout is even only as low as 45 per cent, down on that 50 per cent figure in the most recent ComRes. We know that when turnout drops it does so among the young, the poor, and people who live in inner London – the three groups where Khan is strongest and where Goldsmith is the weakest."

London mayor election 2016: It's the Tube fares, stupid!

30 March

Bill Clinton won the US presidency in 1992 under the mantra: "It's the economy, stupid!", but the main candidates to be the next mayor of London seem to think transport is the key issue for the capital's voters.

The Conservative Party's Zac Goldsmith is promising to protect investment in Transport for London (TfL), while Labour's Sadiq Khan has pledged to freeze fares until 2020.

Wimbledon MP Goldsmith has previously committed to extending the London Overground south of the river and considering a ban on lorries using city centre roads during rush hour, after a spate of cyclist deaths.

Speaking in Ilford today, he will also promise to expand capacity on the District, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City Lines, while delivering on current Mayor Boris Johnson's plans for the Night Tube, according to City AM.

An excerpt from the speech claims: "It's a very clear choice at this election between Khan's reckless experiment with London's future and my plan to secure that future."

Khan, a former Labour transport minister, addressed the subject himself yesterday, saying: "Londoners face a crystal clear choice on fares: a four-year fares freeze if I'm mayor, so you won't pay a penny more in 2020 than you do today, or a 17 per cent rise under Zac Goldsmith."

Goldsmith's camp said he was "not looking to put fares up" but would not freeze them for fear of stifling investment.

TfL has questioned Labour's sums, says City AM, arguing in internal documents that its analysis does not take into account the rising number of passengers after Crossrail comes into service.

Khan, the MP for Tooting, has said his fares freeze would cost £450m over four years; TfL believes the price tag would be more like £1.9bn, says the paper.

London mayor election 2016: Who's in the running as starting gun fires?

21 March

The starting gun for the London mayoral election has been fired, with the official nomination period starting today

While the race is largely seen as a two-way battle between Labour's Sadiq Khan and the Conservative Party's Zac Goldsmith, there have also been expressions of interest from some surprising public figures.

Former Smiths icon Morrissey along with a 79-year-old head-shop owner, Lee Harris, have both suggested they might attempt to join the fight.

"It promises to be close, brutally fought and with potentially significant repercussions for national politics," says The Guardian.

The latest YouGov poll put Khan on 32 per cent of the vote, with Goldsmith at 25 per cent.

Candidates have until 31 March to be formally nominated and must submit the signatures of 330 supporters, ten from each London borough, as well as a £10,000 deposit. Voting takes place on 5 May.

So who is in the running?

Sadiq Khan (Labour)

The son of a Pakistani-born bus driver, Khan hails from a council estate in south-west London. He was a human rights lawyer before becoming MP for Tooting in 2005 and was shadow justice secretary for five years, standing down earlier this year. He is currently the bookmakers' favourite to win.

Zac Goldsmith (Conservative)

Goldsmith, the MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston, is an environmentalist, old Etonian and Eurosceptic. He increased his majority from 4,000 to a "whopping" 23,000 in last year's general election and is hoping his popularity among constituents will spread across London.

Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrats)

The Lib Dems' leader in the London Assembly has spent 12 years as a councillor in Southwark and has campaigned on education, public transport and policing.

Sian Berry (Green Party)

Berry will be a familiar face to followers of Green politics, having stood for mayor in the 2008 elections. This time around, she is hoping the upturn in the party's fortunes on a national level will resonate with London voters.

George Galloway (Respect)

Born in Dundee, Galloway became a Labour MP in 1987 but was expelled from the party in 2003 and later became the figurehead for the Respect Party.

Peter Whittle (Ukip)

Originally from Peckham, Whittle has lived and worked in London nearly all of his life. Ukip's culture spokesman is the founder of think-tank the New Culture Forum and a staunch supporter of grammar schools.

Other potential candidates

• Sophie Walker (Women's Equality Party)
• Paul Golding (Britain First)
• Lee Harris (Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol Party)
• Winston McKenzie (English Democrats)
• David Furness (BNP)
• Jonathan Silbermann (Communist League)
• Upkar Singh Raj (National Liberal Party)
• John (Janek) Zylinski (Independent)
• Rosalind Readhead (Independent)
• Paul Tavares (Independent)

London mayor election2016: Does Zac Goldsmith stand a chance?

16 March

Labour's Sadiq Khan is still the voters' favourite to replace Boris Johnson as mayor of London, according to the latest poll.

A survey by YouGov puts Khan on 32 per cent, ahead of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith on 25 per cent. The margin has not changed since the last YouGov poll in January.

Crucially, nearly a quarter of respondents have not made up their minds. While the "don't knows" fell from 30 per cent in January to 23 per cent this week, they remain numerous.

Other candidates are struggling to make inroads with voters. Ukip's Peter Whittle is in third place on five per cent, while the Liberal Democrat's Caroline Pidgeon and the Green Party's Sian Berry are both on three per cent. Respect Party's George Galloway and Britain First's Paul Golding sit near the bottom on one per cent.

The poll also asked which areas should be prioritised by the future mayor, with the majority of respondents naming housing and transport as their main concerns. Health, policing, and economic development and regeneration were seen as the next greatest priorities.

If the election were tomorrow, Khan would probably win, says the London Evening Standard. He announced his main policies – a four-year freeze on transport fares, a living rent and tackling air pollution – early on and has been "building momentum ever since".

But it could all change, especially as Goldsmith is holding back some of his key proposals until closer to polling day.

"Khan will have to win in all parts of London," says the Standard, "taking supporters from the Tories and persuading non-voters to turn out if he is to make it to City Hall."

Infographic by statista.com for TheWeek.co.uk.

London mayor: will Morrissey take on Goldsmith and Khan?

07 March

Morrissey is said to be considering "very seriously" an invitation by the Animal Welfare Party to stand in the London mayoral election.

The singer, who has long been a vocal supporter of animal rights and vegetarianism, has reportedly said there needs to be a "governmental voice" to speak out against the "hellish and archaic social injustice allotted to animals".

A long statement on the subject entitled "Morrissey: Mayor of London?", said to be from the singer, was posted on True-to-you.net, which is described by the BBC as Morrissey's "semi-official website".

In it, the former Smiths icon rails against the meat industry, describes abattoirs as the "modern continuation of the Nazi concentration camp" and accuses people who drink milk of condoning "systems of torture".

Animal cruelty is the "number one issue stifled from any political debate", he says, adding: "We cannot just sit around waiting for establishment enlightenment."

To be nominated in the race to replace Boris Johnson, Morrissey would need the signatures of ten registered electors from each London borough and a deposit of £10,000. He would also have to show he has lived or worked in London for a year, or be registered to vote in the capital. The deadline for entry is the end of March.

Vanessa Hudson, the leader of the Animal Welfare Party, told the BBC: "We'd like to see the mayoral contest include the views of a candidate who would seek to champion London not only as a world leading city for people, but for animal welfare, too."

If he does secure a nomination, Morrissey would take on Labour's Sadiq Khan and Conservative Zac Goldsmith on 5 May. Other candidates include the Green Party's Sian Berry, Caroline Pidgeon of the Liberal Democrat and Ukip hopeful Peter Whittle.

London mayor election 2016: can Goldsmith overtake Khan?

22 February

Labour's Sadiq Khan is the bookmakers' favourite to win the election for London mayor and has been topping the polls since last summer – so does Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith stand a chance?

The Tooting MP's lead has widened from two points in November to ten in January, with several pundits predicting a Labour win.

"While Khan has given the impression of covering every angle with know-how and energy, the Goldsmith campaign has, by comparison, looked lethargic and at times ill-judged," says Dave Hill in The Guardian. But, he adds, the outcome is still "hard to foresee with certainty".

Both candidates have put housing at the heart of their campaign, are both keen to tackle air pollution and both know that jobs and transport are key issues for Londoners. When it comes to background, however, the two men are quite different: Labour has pitched Khan as the son of a bus driver who grew up in a council house, while Eton-educated Goldsmith comes from a wealthy family.

Asked on Newsnight last week if his background might pose a problem in the race, the Tory politician countered that he had been elected as an MP "against the odds" in what was a comfortable Liberal Democrat seat six years ago. He was then rewarded in the 2015 election with a "massive thumbs up" from his Richmond Park and North Kingston constituency, with the biggest increased majority of any incumbent MP in the country.

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Khan and Goldsmith are "relatively unfamiliar to the electorate", says Lewis Baston, the director of research at the Electoral Reform Society, while present mayor Boris Johnson and his predecessor Ken Livingstone were well-known faces. National party allegiances might, therefore, play an important role.

"All is not lost for team Goldsmith," says Asa Bennett in the Daily Telegraph. He points out that "Posh Tory" jibes didn't stop David Cameron from winning two general elections, nor Johnson from winning the London mayoralty twice in a row.

Before the 2008 election, Johnson was trailing Livingstone by as many as six points, he adds, but was enjoying a seven-point lead by the time polling day arrived.

"Sadiq Khan rode a wave of #YesWeKhan grassroots support to be the Labour candidate," he adds, "but his fight to become the next mayor of London will be much harder."

London mayor election 2016: can cannabis crusader take on Khan and Goldsmith?

11 February

A 79-year-old grandfather who owns a "head shop" in London hopes to be the city's next mayor.

South African Lee Harris is the candidate for the Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol party, which was launched last year by Paul Birch, the multi-millionaire founder of social networking site Bebo.

Described by the Evening Standard as an "elderly hippy", Harris aims to campaign for the legalisation of cannabis and is gathering the required signatures needed to compete against Labour's Sadiq Khan and Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith.

"The time has come to change the drug laws," he said. "Hundreds of thousands of people have been penalised, given criminal records, could not travel, lost job opportunities because of these archaic laws."

Harris, who left his homeland because of apartheid, told Buzzfeed last year that he had initially been a "moral crusader" campaigning against drugs and had once contacted his local MP after seeing teenagers take amphetamines. His intervention has since been cited as a contributing factor to the creation of the 1964 Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act.

"Now, he wants to undo what he sees as the damage his intervention has caused," says Buzzfeed.

Harris is calling for the law to be changed so people can possess cannabis or grow two or three plants on a windowsill.

"The whole world is changing and this country needs to be brought into the 21st century," he said.

As well as Khan and Goldsmith, Harris would be up against the other main parties and independent candidates such as Sophie Walker, the leader of the Women's Equality Party.

London mayor election 2016: what are Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan promising?

26 January

With just 100 days until the London mayoral election, Labour candidate Sadiq Khan is the bookmakers' favourite to replace Boris Johnson, followed closely by Conservative Zac Goldsmith. The latest opinion poll, carried out by YouGov earlier this month, also put the Tooting MP in the lead with 45 per cent of the vote, with his Tory rival in second place with 35 per cent, followed by Ukip's Peter Whittle with six per cent. The Greens and Liberal Democrats trailed behind with five and four per cent respectively. So what exactly are the two leading candidates campaigning for ahead of the May election?

Sadiq Khan

According to Khan's campaign website, one of his key pledges is on housing. As well as introducing a 50 per cent affordable housing target for new developments, he also wants rents to be no more than one-third of renters' average incomes.

In addition, he wants to freeze public transport fares, secure a funding deal for Crossrail 2 and work with employers to relieve travel congestion.

Meanwhile, he has promised that apprenticeships will be at the heart of his agenda and that he will be "the most pro-business mayor London has ever had", while also ensuring as many people as possible can be paid a £10-an-hour London living wage.

The present mayor "just isn't doing enough" to tackle air pollution, says Khan. If he is elected, the politician pledges to keep high-polluting vehicles out of central London, pedestrianise Oxford Street and campaign against a third runway at Heathrow. He will introduce a "zero tolerance" approach to hate crimes and step up efforts to recruit more police officers from black and ethnic-minority backgrounds. Khan also wants victims of crimes to be given access to up-to-date information on their cases online.

Zac Goldsmith

Like Khan, Goldsmith has put housing at the top of his agenda. "There are too many young adults still living in their childhood bedrooms trapped by London's escalating house prices," he says on his campaign website. He wants to double the number of homes built a year to 50,000 by 2020, giving Londoners the first chance to buy new homes and ensuring that a "significant proportion" are for rent only.

The Tory politician has long called for a greener London and led campaigns against the expansion of Heathrow airport, saying that "too many lives" are brought short by air pollution. In his speech at this year's Conservative Party Conference, he said he was "determined" to convert Chancellor George Osborne's plans for Crossrail 2 into a "green light" and to accelerate the transition to having more electric cars on the roads. "We are going to need record investment in our transport network, just to keep London moving," he said.

He also wants to protect London's green belt from development, tackle air pollution with tougher rules on HGVs and create more green spaces in the capital.

In addition, he plans to push forward with the Night Tube and protect the Freedom Pass, as well as put more police on public transport at night and keep neighbourhood police teams on the streets.

Goldsmith has promised to work with the government on his key proposals over the next four years without increasing mayoral council tax.

London mayor election 2016: Zac Goldsmith v Sadiq Khan – first tensions bubble over

11 December

Tensions bubbled over in the fight for London mayor this week amid allegations of "coded racism" and rumours of what might be behind the delay to the decision on the Heathrow runway.

Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith branded his Labour rival Sadiq Khan "divisive and radical" in election leaflets, sparking a furious response from the Labour camp on Monday.

They accused Goldsmith of launching a coded racist attack on the Muslim candidate, while Islington South MP Emily Thornberry said he was "trying to turn London's communities against each other".

A Khan campaign source said: "There's nothing about Sadiq that you could describe as 'divisive' or 'radical' so it's pretty obvious why they've used those words."

They told Politics.co.uk: "We hoped Goldsmith meant it when he said that he wanted a clean campaign - but sadly it appears he's reverted to type."

Labour sources believe the attack was launched in response to the latest polls, which put Khan six-points ahead of his Conservative rival.

But Goldsmith hit back, saying it was "utterly predictable" that Labour would label its opponents as racists.

"It wouldn't be a mayoral campaign if this didn't happen. Ken Livingstone called Boris a racist in 2008 and 2012 and now Ken and Corbyn's cronies have dusted off their playbook and are doing it again," he said.

Meanwhile, the row over Heathrow airport rumbles on. Goldsmith has long threatened to resign if the government agrees to build a new runway in London instead of at Gatwick.

Now, senior Tories have accused him of forcing David Cameron into delaying the decision until after next year's mayoral election.

"Zac said that if the word Heathrow appeared in the announcement, he'd walk," a source told Sky News. "He effectively held a gun to the PM's head."

Goldsmith has said he regrets making the resignation threat, but that he is obliged to keep his promise.