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A far-right candidate turned his back on Sadiq Khan tonight as he gave his victory speech as London's first Muslim mayor.

"Sore-loser bigot" Paul Golding of Britain First was instantly mocked for his supposed act of defiance after the Labour candidate won by a landslide.

He turned his back as soon as Mr Khan started talking, then wheeled round again when Tory runner-up Zac Goldsmith took the podium and shook his head.

Labour MP Karl Turner said it was "filthy" behaviour. Labour colleague Jonathan Reynolds tweeted: "If only these Britain First folks would adapt to British values. #Democracy."

Former Labour candidate Gareth Siddorn said: "I stood against Paul Golding in Sevenoaks in 2010. He was a small-minded, pathetic scumbag then and he remains one now."

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Other Twitter users branded Mr Golding - who won less than 3% of the total Mr Khan did - a "sore-loser bigot" and a "rejected racist".

(Image: James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock)

Mr Golding denied his protest was racist, telling BuzzFeed: "Racist? I didn’t turn my back around because he’s Asian,I turned my back on his because he’s a vile man.

"The extreme left lunatic fringe of Labour have taken over with Corbyn."

The deliberate show of disrespect at the count in London's City Hall came after Mr Golding claimed parts of London were being "colonised" by Muslims.

Shortly after the incident Britain First wrote on its Facebook page: "Paul Golding turns his back on Sadiq Khan during his victory speech! ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS NOT WELCOME!"

The act marked an ugly end to months of 'dog-whistle' campaigning by the Tories linking Mr Khan to Islamic extremists.

Mr Khan protested he had met extremists because he was a human rights lawyer - while one local imam accused of supporting "an Islamic state" by David Cameron turned out to be a Tory supporter.

The Tories' vote share plummeted nearly 9% in the mayoral election while Mr Khan won 1.3million votes, the biggest personal mandate in British political history.

In his victory speech after 16 and a half hours of counting, Mr Khan thanked his "amazing" mum and dad, wife and two daughters - saying his bus driver dad would've been proud of him.

And in a swipe at Mr Goldsmith he said: “This election was not without controversy. But I’m proud that London has chosen hope over fear and unity over division.

“I hope that we will never be offered such a stark choice again.”

He added: “The politics of fear is simply not welcome in our city."

Britain First, meanwhile, wants to "introduce a comprehensive ban on the religion of Islam within the United Kingdom" - according to its own website.

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(Image: James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock)

And Mr Golding has ranted on Facebook about London being "colonised" by Muslims.

In one video he said: "All of the British people have all moved out of London and immigrants and Muslims have all moved in. Whole swathes of the city now are completely colonised."

Britain First's policies include making it an "act of treason" to allow "significant numbers of foreigners" into the country.

The party, which won 31,372 votes in the mayoral election, denies it is racist.