5月5日，英国举行一系列选举，除了较受瞩目的伦敦市长选举，还包括英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士、北爱尔兰等地的地方议会选举，以及2个国会议席补选，因而被称为“超级星期四”选举。投票于当地时间5日晚上10时已结束，预计结果将在未来两、三天陆续公布。
由于英国将在6月23日进行脱欧公投，而选民在地方选举中的投票意向常被视为公投的风向标，此次选举也因此被视为公投的前哨战。
另一方面，在野工党亦期望在各场地方选战中取得好成绩，保持与执政保守党抗衡的实力，以在2020年大选中角逐执政权。
伦敦市长选举设两轮投票，在首轮中得票最高的两名候选人将再进行对决。在最新民调中，工党巴基斯坦裔候选人萨迪克汗（Sadiq Khan）的支持度排名第一，且领先主要对手、保守党候选人戈德史密斯（Zac Goldsmith）多达20个百分点。外界预料，萨迪克汗很可能成为首位穆斯林伦敦市长。
在这类选举中，表现强势的在野党通常会大幅领先执政党，但看看现在的工党和执政保守党，工党似乎不会得到太好的选举结果。
不过，工党虽然在伦敦市长选举上占有优势，在地方选举的选情却不乐观。4月底，属工党的前伦敦市长利文斯通（Ken Livingstone）“纳粹德国领袖希特勒（Adolf Hitler）是犹太复国主义支持者”的言论引起争议，亦引发工党内讧。最终，工党党魁郝尔彬（Jeremy Corbyn）以损害党声誉为理由暂停利文斯通的党籍，即便如此，郝尔彬依然遭党内质疑反应缓慢、处理不公等。
分析指，在工党党员失言、党内分歧严重之下，工党在英格兰可能流失100至200个地方议席。而在苏格兰和威尔士，过去选战成绩不俗的工党，今次亦 面对“苏格兰民族党”及“英国独立党”的挑战。分析指，在6月脱欧公投即将来临之际，主张“脱欧”的英国独立党和谋求苏格兰独立的苏格兰民族党在这些焦点 议题的态度会引起选民关注，或有利他们竞争工党的传统票源。
(Initium Media 端传媒)
After an Extremely Ugly Campaign, London Elects First Ever Muslim Mayor
By Isaac Chotiner
Politics being what it is, when politicians get what they truly deserve, it usually is a drubbing, rather than an office. Nowhere can this reality be seen more clearly than in London, where the Tory Zac Goldsmith has just been defeated by Labour's Sadiq Khan. After running a vicious, dishonest, and increasingly pathetic campaign against Khan, Goldsmith saw his strategy backfire; following Conservative Boris Johnson's eight years as mayor, the city will now be in control of the Labour Party. It will also be governed, for the first time, by a Muslim.
This last bit is important because it is a victory over certain reactive forces. Goldsmith, the son of the billionaire James Goldsmith, was someone who, it might have been hoped, would run a campaign fit for a man who wanted to govern a multicultural and multiethnic city. Instead, he claimed time and again that Khan was a friend to extremists. An outrageous op-ed Goldsmith wrote before the vote, in which he smeared Khan, was even illustrated with a photo of London’s 7/7 attacks. Goldsmith's campaign reached another level of absurdity when Imran Khan, the Pakistani politician and former brother-in-law of Goldsmith, offered his support, which was warmly accepted. The irony, no doubt lost on Goldsmith, is that this particular Khan—no relation to Sadiq—is an apologist for the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan!
Sadiq Khan is a former human rights lawyer; it's hard to know what sort of mayor he will be. But he will enter office following not only eight years of the ridiculous Johnson (who recently hinted that Obama's actions may have something to do with his "part-Kenyan" origins), but the equally ludicrous Ken Livingstone, who has gotten into trouble recently for calling Hitler a Zionist, and essentially blaming Israel for ISIS attacks. In other words, Khan will not be following in illustrious footsteps. His win is a sign that bigoted attacks don't always work, even in fraught atmospheres. Americans have reason to hope they won't work here, either.
(Isaac Chotiner is a Slate contributor)
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