In historic election, London elects first Muslim mayor

MEGAN THOMPSON, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR:

London has a new mayor and its first who is a Muslim: 45-year-old Sadiq Khan. The human rights lawyer and Labour Party leader is the son of Pakistani immigrants. His father was a bus driver and his mother was a seamstress.

With election results declared final today, Khan was sworn into office and celebrated his win at a multi-denominational ceremony in an Anglican cathedral.

SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR:

My name is Sadiq Khan and I'm the mayor of London!

MEGAN THOMPSON:

He said he'll be a mayor for all Londoners and represents every community.

Jenny Gross, a reporter for the "Wall Street Journal," has been covering the election and joins us via Skype from London.

Jenny, one million of London's eight million residents are Muslim, a quarter of the city is foreign born. Do those demographics affect the campaign?

JENNY GROSS, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:

The demographics in London are so different than the rest of the country. So, that for sure could have been a reason, you know, given Sadiq Khan a boost in the polls.

But I think moreover he lead a campaign that appealed to Londoners, you know, of course, beyond Muslims. He was elected with a huge mandate, something like 57 percent of votes went to him in the second round and 43 percent went to his rival, Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate.

MEGAN THOMPSON:

That Conservative candidate said some things during the election that some people considered Islamophobic, even suggesting that Khan was sympathetic to Islam extremists.

JENNY GROSS:

What Zac Goldsmith did was he tried to link Sadiq Khan to extremists, but ended up back firing. Sadiq Khan, you know, said he spent his entire adult life fighting extremism and yes, he has, you know, met with unsavory figures in the past as part of his career — his former career in as a human rights lawyer.

But I think — I think, you know, just when talking to people on the street here, people were turned off by the fact that instead of focusing on the issues like housing and transport, the emphasis of the Conservative campaign seemed to be about race and Sadiq Khan's Muslim faith.

MEGAN THOMPSON:

Are there signs that those tensions will ease now that the election is over?

JENNY GROSS:

I think there is a sense among some people here that people are just very excited about the fact that London has a Muslim mayor. I think it's significant in that he is the first Muslim mayor in a major western capital city. Also that he was very happy that people here had chosen unity over fear and division.

MEGAN THOMPSON:

Europe in general has been grappling with rising Islamophobia following the influx of Muslim refugees and also the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. How significant is Khan's election for Europe in general?

JENNY GROSS:

I think it's extremely important, as you said, at the time of rising Islamaphobia here, in the U.K. in particular. It's been — it's been a big issue. You know, we have seen more than 800 young British Muslims have left the country to go to Syria and Iraq to join terrorist organizations.

So, I mean, I think you know, part of Khan's campaign, he said he was going to work on fighting extremism here and making sure that everyone in society felt included.

MEGAN THOMPSON:

Jenny Gross, "Wall Street Journal" reporter joining us from London — thank you so much for being with us.

JENNY GROSS:

Thank you