![\"Sadik](\"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sadik-Khan.jpg\")
Sadiq Khan, a Muslim lawmaker from Britain\u2019s opposition Labour Party, is the strong favorite to win London\u2019s mayoral election on Thursday after a bitter contest marked by religious tensions and accusations of racism.\nPolls show Khan, the son of a bus driver, is as much as 20 percentage points ahead of rival Conservative Zac Goldsmith in the race to run one of the world\u2019s top financial centers. If he wins, he will succeed current Conservative mayor Boris Johnson to become the first Muslim to head a major western capital.
\nLondon\u2019s population of 8.6 million is among the most cosmopolitan in the world and it is rare for identity politics to enter British campaigning.
\nYet Goldsmith, with the support of Prime Minister David Cameron, has for weeks focused on Khan\u2019s faith and past appearances alongside radical Muslim speakers, accusing him of giving \u201cplatform, oxygen and cover\u201d to extremists.
\nFormer human rights lawyer Khan says he has fought extremism all his life and regrets sharing a stage with speakers who held \u201cabhorrent\u201d views.
\nHe has accused Goldsmith, the elite-educated son of a billionaire financier, of using Donald Trump-style tactics to divide Londoners along faith lines, as well as being part of an out-of-touch wealthy elite.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a chance that there are people who are almost subconsciously put off (voting for Khan) by the dog-whistle racism … people who wouldn\u2019t like to say \u2018I\u2019m not going to vote for Sadiq Khan\u2019, but will have a wobble at the ballot box,\u201d said Anthony Wells, director of political and social opinion polling at YouGov.
\nBut he added the impact was unlikely to be enough to allow Goldsmith to pull off a surprise victory.
\n\u201cThe only effect of the Zac Goldsmith campaigning is probably just to entrench all those long-standing issues the Conservative Party have got with appealing to ethnic minority voters,\u201d he said.
\nLast week there was a new twist as Kahn\u2019s party was accused of failing to stamp out anti-Semitism in its ranks amid a row over comments by another lawmaker on her Facebook account arguing that Israel should be moved to the US.
\nKhan condemned the comment and distanced himself from former London mayor Ken Livingstone, who on Thursday was suspended from the Labor party for supporting the party member at the center of the controversy.
\nThe left wing of the party, and notably its current leader Jeremy Corbyn, have long been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and it is not the first time Labor has faced accusations that this had led to actual anti-Semitism.
\nLabor figures acknowledge the dispute is distracting the party ahead of the London vote and local elections across the country on the same day, with Corbyn likely to face new questions over his future if the party does poorly.
\nThe two mayoral hopefuls also have opposing stances on one of Britain\u2019s most important strategic decisions: whether to remain a member of the European Union. Goldsmith wants to leave, Khan wants to stay.
\nBut even with a June 23 referendum on that issue looming, at which a vote to leave would create serious question marks over London\u2019s role as a global financial center, the Brexit issue has barely featured in the campaign.
\nBoth candidates have been eager not to alienate voters who disagree with them on Brexit, saying they will fight for the capital\u2019s interests whichever way the country votes.<\/p>\n