Sadiq Khan became London's first Muslim mayor today, as voters rejected attempts to taint him with links to extremism and handed a decisive victory to the bus driver's son from south London.
Sadiq Khan was elected to replace Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson after a campaign marked - and many said marred - by US-style negative campaigning. Goldsmith, a wealthy environmentalist, called Khan divisive and accused him of sharing platforms with Islamic extremists - a charge repeated by Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior Conservatives.
Sadiq Khan, who calls himself "the British Muslim who will take the fight to the extremists," accused Goldsmith of trying to scare and divide voters in a proudly multicultural city of 8.6 million people - more than 1 million of them Muslim.
Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim, was a human rights lawyer before joining Parliament.
His parents immigrated to London from Pakistan. His father was a bus driver in the city for more than 25 years
Sadiq Khan hailed his victory as the triumph of "hope over fear and unity over division."
Sadiq Khan's win was the most dramatic result in local and regional elections that produced few big changes but underscored Britain's political divisions ahead of a referendum on whether to remain in the European Union.
Labour Party candidate Khan received more than 1.3 million votes - 57 % of the total - to Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith's 43 %, after voters' first and second preferences were allocated.
Turnout was a relatively high 45.6 %, up from 38 % in 2012.
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