London mayoral election on a knife edge, warn Labour insiders

Labour insiders have warned that the London mayoral election is on a knife edge after the party was hit by a local elections backlash from Muslim voters over its stance on Gaza.

One ally of Sadiq Khan, the incumbent mayor, said the fight with Conservative Susan Hall was “definitely going to be close” and suggested there could be just a few points in it.

The warnings suggested Ms Hall could defy expectations, despite having largely been written off ahead of the election.

On Friday night, the Conservatives were buoyed by low turnout data suggesting that many of Mr Khan’s previous supporters may have stayed home.

The number of ballots cast was down in some areas where he performed well last time, while it was up in Tory strongholds such as Bexley and Bromley.

Sources in the mayor’s camp said polls that showed him with a double-digit lead in the run-up to the contest were wide of the mark.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, summed up the jitters when he warned that some voters had “sent us a message on Gaza”.

“We’ve always feared this race would be close, so we were warning Londoners –  don’t take the risk of waking up with a Conservative mayor,” he told Sky News. “There’s no doubt, looking at some of the results across the country, that Gaza has been an issue, so we’ll have to wait and see. I really hope Sadiq will be re-elected.”