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Sadiq Khan goes into the next mayoral race with a commanding lead over Conservative challenger Shaun Bailey, the first poll of the 2020 contest reveals today.

Labour’s mayor would win on the first round of voting with a clear majority of Londoners’ votes, the YouGov survey commissioned by Queen Mary University of London suggests.

It shows Mr Khan’s position has improved since September, despite serious political crises over knife crime, slow housing delivery and costly delays to Crossrail.

Asked to choose between the known candidates, voters divided 55 per cent for Mr Khan and 28 per cent for Mr Bailey.

Seven per cent went for Green hopeful Sian Berry and four per cent for the Lib Dems’ Siobhan Benita.

The findings are a blow to former youth worker Mr Bailey, whose vote share is below the 33 per cent who would back the Conservatives in a general election.

Mr Khan is more popular than his party, which polls 49 per cent in London.

In a run-off between the two, Mr Khan would romp home by 62 per cent to 38, YouGov estimated.

Some 47 per cent said Mr Khan was doing well, while 36 per cent thought he was doing badly - a net score of +11, which is up from +4 in September.

Prof Philip Cowley, of QMUL’s Mile End Institute, said Mr Khan’s score had improved from a “nadir” at the end of a summer hallmarked by violent crime, but were still below the runaway +22 ratings when he took office in 2016.

“The slight increase in Conservative support since September makes the standing of the Conservative candidate for mayor even more dire,” said Prof Cowley.

“This is impressive for Khan - it would make him the first candidate to win on the first round of voting since the post was created.”

Mr Khan was ahead by 43-34 in the crucial battleground of Outer London, where a strong Conservative lead is needed to overcome Labour’s solid backing in the inner area.

In the run-off, the pair were neck and neck in Outer London.

The findings are also a blow to Ms Benita, suggesting she could poll no more in 2020 as an official Liberal Democrat runner than she did in 2012 when she ran as an independent, achieving 3.8 per cent.