
The nastiness of Zac Goldsmith’s campaign for the London mayoralty has presented his Labour rival, Sadiq Khan, with a dilemma.
So controversial and personal have the Conservative campaign’s insinuations been, Khan has had no choice but to call them out. But it doesn’t benefit Khan, who has been trying (with success) to run a positive campaign, to be constantly countering Tory tactics rather than carving his own path. Too much focus on Goldsmith would allow the Tories to dominate the narrative about the London mayoral election, however nasty their message is. Doing so could even inadvertently amplify the message.