Zac Goldsmith, the Tory candidate for London mayor, has been accused of running a campaign that exploits racial divisions. Criticisms range from the dismissal of his leaflets – which specifically target the capital’s individual Asian communities – as merely patronising, to a condemnation of his campaign tactics as downright colonial.
Votes from middle-class immigrants, particularly Indians in swing boroughs such as Ealing and Harrow, could play a crucial role in deciding who is elected mayor. So is the focus of Goldsmith’s campaign a demonstration of precision-targeting key voters, or of divide-and-rule? I spoke to politicians, Londoners, community figures, and representatives from both the Tory and Labour mayoral campaigns to find out.
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