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Sadiq Khan is five points ahead in the battle for Mayor of London despite being hit by a string of controversies, an exclusive poll reveals today.

Labour’s candidate is beating Tory rival Zac Goldsmith by 31 per cent to 26 per cent, found pollsters Opinium.

Mr Khan is getting twice as many second preference votes from backers of smaller parties, putting him on course to win the run-off by a 10-point margin of 55-45.

But in the big outer London “doughnut”, the two rivals are running neck-and-neck, which suggests a high turnout in the suburbs could slash Mr Khan’s lead.

With a quarter of Londoners saying they have yet to make up their minds, the May 5 contest is still wide open.

Mayor Boris Johnson today stepped into the explosive row over Mr Khan’s aide Shueb Salar, who resigned after it was revealed he made offensive remarks on social media and posted images of himself posing with a rifle.

Mr Johnson seized on a tweet by Mr Salar that suggested the 2013 murder of soldier Lee Rigby was “faked”, claiming Mr Khan showed “an appalling lack of judgment” for hiring him. “I do not see how Mr Khan can command the support or the confidence of Londoners,” said the Mayor.

The survey reveals that Londoners are evenly split by Mr Goldsmith’s controversial charge that Mr Khan is “radical and divisive”, with 29 per cent agreeing and 27 per cent disagreeing.

On Mr Khan’s counter-charge that his opponent was guilty of “coded racism”, 34 per cent agree and 25 per cent disagree.

None of the smaller party candidates came close to the big two, gaining about two per cent each.

Ukip’s Peter Whittle was marginally ahead of the Green Party’s Sian Berry and Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon, while Respect Party candidate George Galloway trails the pack with less than one per cent.

Nearly half of those planning to vote for minor candidates say they won’t bother with a second preference vote. Of those who expressed a preference, 31 per cent chose Mr Khan and 16 per cent Mr Goldsmith.

But the biggest wildcard is the 25 per cent of Londoners who intend to vote but have yet to make up their minds.

Adam Drummond, of Opinium, said: “The last mayoral elections were dominated by big personalities but Zac and Sadiq aren’t household names in the way that Boris and Ken were.”

A spokesman for Mr Khan hit back at the Mayor, saying: “This Tory campaign is the most negative and desperate we have seen in a London election.”