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A new poll of Londoners has put Labour's mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan ahead of Conservative front-runner Zac Goldsmith in the race for City Hall.

MP for Tooting Mr Khan was 13% clear of his rival Mr Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park, in the latest vote by Survation, of more than 1,000 respondents.

People were shown two separate video clips of the men discussing their opposition to a third runway at Heathrow and then asked if the election for the next Mayor of London was between these two candidates who would they vote for.

Results showed 50% of voters would back Mr Khan, while 37% opted for Mr Goldsmith, a 6% jump in support for the Labour candidate.

Mr Khan said: “This poll clearly shows that I’m the best placed candidate to beat the Tories and win back City Hall for Labour next May.

“But I don’t just intend to win - I want to win for a purpose. I am standing to be the next Mayor of London because I want to make a difference to the lives of Londoners.

“I am the only Labour candidate who is serious about tackling inequality, making transport affordable and standing up to developers to ensure the homes our city needs finally get built.”

The results were announced as ballots were sent out leaving a question mark over who the next Mayor will be.

Other results of the survey revealed more than half of Londoners would be “comfortable” with a Muslim Mayor; however 31% would be “uncomfortable” which on further analysis showed there was a clear age gap in the thinking with people in their 20s more "comfortable" but over 60s were "uncomfortable.

The first choice for Mayor would be a labour candidate with 44% of votes, followed by a conservative candidate with 35% of votes.

Of the candidates running to be the next Mayor of London, the poll also revealed the top two people that the public had heard of were Diane Abbott (70%) and Tessa Jowell (68%), followed by Mr Khan (58%) and Zac Goldsmith (55%).