Zac Goldsmith's sister Jemima publicly criticises his London mayoral campaign
Jemima Goldsmith says her brother is an 'eco-friendly, independent-minded politician with integrity'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Zac Goldsmith's own sister has critcised his London mayoral campaign saying it did not reflect the type of person she knows him to be.
Jemima Goldsmith tweeted that her brother was an "eco-friendly, independent-minded politician with integrity" and his campaign, which has been widely criticised for using "dog-whistle racism", did not reflect this.
Labour candidate Sadiq Khan's victory in the race for City Hall was finally announced just before 12.30am on Saturday morning, following a delay in counting the second preference votes. With all votes allocated, he received a total of 57 per cent, well ahead of Goldsmith's 43 per cent.
She praised Mr Khan as a "great example to young Muslims" - in contrast to her brother's campaign which was accused of being divisive.
Mr Goldsmith has denied claims he ran a racist campaign saying he sincerly believed Mr Khan gave "platform, oxygen and cover to extremists".
Senior Conservatives have attacked the campaign for attempting to "smear" Mr Khan.
Andrew Boff, Conservative leader in the London Assembly, said the campaign's "outrageous" tactics had "blown up" bridges built with London's Muslim communities in an interview on the BBC's Newsnight on Thursday after the polls had closed.
He said: “I mentioned that I thought this was a mistake for future integration in London. If you are a London politician this is just a bizarre thing to do.
“It was effectively saying that people of conservative religious views are not to be trusted and you shouldn't share a platform with them. That's outrageous.”
Last week, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi criticised Mr Goldsmith after an article he wrote for the Daily Mail attacking Mr Khan's record was published next to an image of a bus destroyed in the 7/7 attacks.
She said: "This is not the Zac Goldsmith I know".
Mr Khan will be the first Muslim mayor of a major European city.
Paris Mayor, Anne Hildalgo congratulated Mr Khan on Twitter saying she was "convinced your humanism and your progressivism will benefit Londoners".
Katie Hopkins, who had vowed to "run naked" down Regent Street with a "sausage" up her bottom if Sadiq Khan won, tweeted suggesting that she would go through with her stunt.
The turnout for the election has been reported as 45.6 per cent, up from 38.1 per cent in 2012.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments