Andrew Boff says linking Sadiq Khan with Muslims who PM described as extremists was ‘outrageous’ and has ‘done real damage’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A senior London Conservative has criticised the mayoral campaign of Zac Goldsmith for “outrageous” attempts to link his Labour opponent, Sadiq Khan, to Islamist extremism.

Andrew Boff, the Conservative group leader on the Greater London assembly, said it was a mistake for his own side to have attacked Khan in a way that could damage community relations.

Goldsmith’s claims about Khan have been branded racist and divisive by Labour and some Conservative activists.

However, the Tory mayoral candidate and David Cameron persisted in alleging that Khan was unfit for office, arguing he had showed poor judgment in sharing platforms with Islamist extremists while he was a human rights lawyer.

UK local election results 2016: live updates and news Read more

Despite the attacks, Khan has been the bookmakers’ favourite throughout the race and would become the UK’s most powerful Muslim politician to date if he wins. Labour campaign sources said they were optimistic.

After polls closed, Boff, who competed with Goldsmith for the Tory mayoral nomination, told the BBC’s Newsnight: “Well, I don’t think it was a dog whistle because you can’t hear a dog whistle. Everybody could hear this. It was effectively saying that people of conservative religious views are not to be trusted and you should not share a platform with them. That’s outrageous.”

Boff said the campaign had “done real damage” and had “blown up bridges” the Conservative party had built with London’s Muslim communities.

“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,” he said.

Boff said it was a particular error to “equate people of conservative religious views with sympathising with terrorism”.

“It was ridiculous ... I do believe it’s going to affect Conservatives at the sharp end, especially in those parts of London where there is a high Muslim population,” he added.

London mayor election: Labour high hopes for Sadiq Khan win Read more

Some other Conservatives have already criticised Goldsmith’s approach, particularly after an article in the Mail on Sunday that was illustrated with a picture from the 7/7 bombing and headlined: “Are we really going to hand the world’s greatest city to a Labour party that thinks terrorists are its friends?”

The former Conservative co-chairman Sayeeda Warsi tweeted after that: “Are we Conservatives fighting to destroy Zac or fighting to win this election?

“In the real world, Londoners worry about housing, jobs and NHS. In the world of politics, new reality TV show ‘Britain’s Biggest Bigot’ launched!”

On Friday, Warsi said: “The left needs to root out antisemitism in its ranks and the right needs to weed out its Islamophobes ... Dog-whistle, nasty politics is damaging the UK.”

Goldsmith later distanced himself from the headline and image accompanying the Mail on Sunday piece.