London Mayor Sadiq Khan is on course for a landslide re-election next May, according to new poll released this week.
The poll, conducted by Redfield and Wilton, puts Khan close to victory in the first round, with 49 percent of the vote. His Conservative rival, Shaun Bailey, trails the incumbent mayor on just 26 percent – down 11 percent on his party’s performance in 2016.
In the head to head between the two, Khan is set to triumph with just over 60 percent of the vote – which would be the largest margin of victory should it be replicated in May’s election.
Despite not having a candidate for the election, the Liberal Democrats are expected to place third – more than doubling their vote share from the last election. Meanwhile, Green Party co-leader Sian Berry could be pushed to fourth place with nine percent of the vote.
Other parties, including the Women’s Equality Party and a number of independent candidates, are expected to win four percent collectively.
The poll revealed that almost one in three people who voted Liberal Democrat at the last election are set to reject the party in 2021 and vote for Khan for the mayoralty.
The London mayoral election was due to take place in May of this year, but was postponed as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic until 2021. The year-long delay caused independent candidate Rory Stewart and then-Liberal Democrat candidate Siobhan Benita to quit the race.
In more good news for Labour in the nation’s capital, another opinion poll by Redfield & Wilton puts the party’s support for a general election at 48 percent, with the Tories down three points to 29 percent.
Such a result would see Labour regain the seat of Kensington, as well as gain Iain Duncan Smith’s seat of Chingford and Woodford Green, and Theresa Villiers seat of Chipping Barnet. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats would pick up the seats of Wimbledon and Carshalton and Wallington from the Conservatives.
thoughtsfromdan.com 