Tiny Tory turnout selects Zac

Zac Goldsmith has been elected as the Tory candidate for next May’s Mayor of London election, to face Labour’s Sadiq Khan.

The Conservative selection, in which MP Zac beat Assembly Member Andrew Boff, MEP Syed Kamall and London’s deputy mayor for crime and policing Stephen Greenhalgh, suffered from a dismal turnout of fewer than 10,000 voters. This is a smaller total than the 15,661 who voted for Boris Johnson alone in 2007.

9,227 voted in the Conservative primary (in which any Londoner could sign up and vote for £1), compared to 87,884 who voted in the Labour selection. Winner Goldsmith received 6,514 votes, while Sadiq Khan received 48,152 in the Labour race.

Some London Labour sources are quietly confident about their chances: a poll last month indicated Khan could enjoy a large lead over Goldsmith, while the son of a bus driver versus the Old Etonian narrative could prove important.

Goldsmith has already conceded that his image could prove a problem. In a 2013 interview with the Huffington Post, in which he said he was “not going to stand as a candidate for Mayor of London”, he also said his background if he did run would be an issue. “The odds of my succeeding in the mayoral contest, I think people have had enough of white male Etonians, I’m not sure my chances would be very high”, he said.