London Mayoral Election

See Khan has accused the Tories of using Trump playboy tactics in the mayoral elections. About right I would say.

Cameron tried to divide ethnic groups to win votes, there is a subsequent Tory rift over the campaign.

Duh, thank you grumpa , sorry Jess

I have been quite impressed that Jeremy Corbyn has stayed away and let the people running for Mayors get on with it and the person running the Scottish Campaign get on with it and will, I believe, let those running the EU referendum get on with it. How refreshing that we are not seeing the usual American style personality competition (except where the media insist on propounding it). It is what everyone has asked for after all.

Personally my view is that these elections were very much a holding process. Scotland is still influenced by their referendum and so the only party putting forward a "stay" in the UK made progress but otherwise little changed. I am very impressed, by the way, by the fact that the PR (ish but they are all ish) set up in Scotland has been done to deliberately stop any party having an overall majority unless they get more than 50% of the overall vote - clever stuff. In England and Wales little changed although the influence of the upcoming EU referendum showed.

Politics seems to have changed with more extreme parties in Europe and Donald Trump a possible (heaven forbid) in the US. I think next years elections will tell us much more but who knows what will have happened by the re then EU. For the Labour Party patience is a virtue; they do not need to play to the medias deadlines (which is annoying them). It is still four years until the general election and the party needs to use that time to prepare a real and thought out opposition in all areas that government affects.

Great interview- spot on Sadiq- and yes, this is what makes Britain so great:

www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/10153594419862217/

gj, Have you read some of the comments on that Facebook page? It certainly shows that racism is alive and kicking in the UK.

Why "poor old Londoners having to have a mayor"! We campaigned for one for years after M Thather abolished the GLC. As a Londoner I like having a mayor who is focused on London issues- housing, transport, air quality etc. Both Boris and Ken have fought for London against the prevailing government in their own way. both had a hand in the success of the Olympics. ,aye smaller towns/ cities don't need a political mayor but London certainly does.

Gracesgran you did realise Labour were routed in the Scottish Election?
Maybe JC should have got involved.

Some have become so use to ' David - I must get on camera Cameron' they expect the same of Corbyn .

Going to Bristol showed Corbyn is a leader who respects all members and acknowledges that winning a seat is important no matter what part of the country

Marvin the new mayor of Bristol was the mayor untill five years ago, lost in 2011so fought and won it back again for labour last Thursday

I understand that Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool, is reasonably well-respected too. I live in a shire county and we have a Leader of the Council and a Chairman, who does the same kind of job as a mayor.

agree daphnehill- the vociferous and bitter minority though- shameful- but the votes prove them wrong. Golding and Liberty (what a name for such a racist party) are frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs...

Apparently Corbyn is the only MP that has been arrested on an anti-semitism march. So much for those suggesting he is against Jews because of his stance against Istael.

I think Corbyn is doing well for someone who never looked to be party leader and didn't expect to win the leadership contest. A small group of left wingers pushed to have a more left-wing candidate, to offer members a wider choice. Corbyn was told by his mates that it was about time he gave it a go and the requisite number of nominations was achieved at the very last minute. I did not vote for him as my first choice but since his election as party leader he has behaved like a dignified adult , unlike many other politicians. He has not tried to fit himself into a mould created by Blair et al, with every word carefully spun. He has brought large numbers of disaffected Labour supporters back into the party.
UKIP has taken a chunk of votes away from Labour without a doubt and coverage of the refugee/migrants crisis is helping them.

Yes, UKIP must have done better than they could have expected to do, and especially well in Wales.
Labour have done badly in Scotland, the SNP have taken over the Labour vote now.
Most cities don't feel that they need a Mayor, but as another poster says, London is so vast that it does merit one, that looks after the interest of Londoners.
congratulations to Khan, hope that he will make a good job of it.

rose that is very magnanimous of you considering your many posts about Labour. ? Good to see some of us aren't totally blinkered.

Alea strange use of the word routed.

alea it wouldn't have made much difference Scotland is still fighting the referendum.

It has to be 'may the best man win' in these things.

"routed" as in "put to flight"
www.thefreedictionary.com/routed

Not to be confused with the same word when pronounced "rooted"

Yes! I do so hope he makes a good job of it, for all sorts of reasons. He will need to be strong as he will undoubtedly clash with the Tory government.

Alea it wouldn't have made much difference Scotland is still fighting the referendum.

What wouldn't have "made any difference" and which referendum do you mean?

Oh! the in/out of the U.K. The voting is still reflecting, that which is why the Tories have done so well in constituencies that had the highest in vote. Labour unfortunately is paying the price for siding with the Tories.

daphne It's true there were some racist remarks in the comments section after the Sadiq Khan interview. However, on the whole, I think the vast majority of comments were very positive. It did amuse me that several of those who weren't impressed with the result accused Sadiq Khan of playing the "race/religion card" and and of fighting a "dirty campaign" when in fact it was Zac Goldsmith who had done that - and London rejected it.

I'm not sure it's necessary for the media to make such a big thing about Sadiq Khan being the first Muslim person in high office. The way they talk, anyone would think a Martian had been elected.

I don't agree, whitewave, yes, the Independence referendum broke the rigid party allegiance of the past, but not every body who voted to remain supports the SNP and vice versa. The SNP gained most of its support from Labour in the last election as evidenced by the paucity of Scottish Labour MPs . You might have expected a similar overwhelming support in the Holyrood election or indeed a revival of a Labour fortunes given a new leader and the unpopularity of "champagne socialism. "But JC hasn't resonated with the Scots it seems and a down to earth plain speaking Conservative has been a breath of fresh air after the Tory landowning hegemony of the past.

Alea routed does indeed mean "put to flight" but I just don't see it. Very little changed except that, when offered a party that were in favour of the union a number of people voted for it. Otherwise, very little change. Just my opinion but it was part of my overall opinion that this was quite a strange election which ended up having little to do with the old party stances.

Just thinking along the same lines as the comment I read in the New Statesman

The story of the night, though, is the demise of Scottish Labour, which put in its worst ever performance in Scotland, it’s the party’s worst result since universal suffrage was introduced in 1928. The party’s vote share was down across Scotland, and the results are sufficiently poor that they could see them fall behind the Conservatives to become the third party north of the border
This from a party which has dominated Scottish politics ,mcertainly in my lifetime.
I'd consider that a "rout".
What would you call it? An acceptable setback? An electoral hiccup?