Londra si appresta verosimilmente a diventare la prima capitale occidentale con un sindaco musulmano: si svolgono oggi, giovedì, in Gran Bretagna le elezioni comunali e nella metropoli il candidato laburista Sadiq Khan ha una decina di punti di vantaggio nei sondaggi rispetto al suo avversario conservatore, Zac Goldsmith. Il vincitore succederà a Boris Johnson.
Deputato di Tooting, quartiere popolare dove è cresciuto in una famiglia povera e numerosa, Khan è un ex avvocato per la difesa dei diritti umani, ha 45 anni e si è difeso contro ogni tentativo di strumentalizzare la sua religione: "Sono fiero di essere musulmano", ha sempre dichiarato, ma anche "sono londinese, britannico, di origini pachistane, padre, marito e tifoso del Liverpool". Goldsmith, 41enne figlio di un miliardario, l'ha accusato di frequentare ambienti estremisti il domenicale Mail on Sunday ha messo in copertina la foto di un bus sventrato dagli attentati del 2005.
Zac Goldsmith
Ma in una città dove la popolazione tiene alla propria reputazione di tolleranza e per un terzo non è bianca, la strategia potrebbe avere l'effetto contrario di quello sperato. I seggi sono aperti dalle 8.00 ora svizzera e lo saranno fino alle 23.00. I risultati arriveranno venerdì pomeriggio.
Si vota per il rinnovo di 124 consigli municipali e per i parlamenti regionali in Scozia, Galles e Irlanda del Nord. Nel complesso, lo scrutinio si annuncia negativo per i laburisti, anche sull'onda delle affermazioni giudicate antisemite che hanno portato alla sospensione nell'ultima settimana di diversi responsabili del partito.
pon/ATS
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