London Tories hit out at Zac Goldsmith's anti-Muslim campaign as final poll hands Sadiq Khan a 14-point lead in race for mayor
- Andrew Boff, Tory leader on GLA, slams Goldsmith's negative tactics
- He says his focus on Khan's links to Muslim 'extremists' could damage community relations
- First major elections since Corbyn won the Labour leadership last year
- David Cameron is also back in front of the voters for the first time 2015
- Elections are being held in English councils and for London's City Hall
- The Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and NI Assembly also have polls
- Results will be declared overnight with the first results due in early hours
Senior Tories have hit out at Zac Goldsmith for running an 'outrageous' anti-Muslim campaign as an election day poll handed Sadiq Khan a huge 14-point lead in the London mayoral vote.
Andrew Boff, the Conservative leader on the Greater London assembly, said Mr Goldsmith's strategy to attack Mr Khan for his links to Muslim 'extremists' in the race to replace Boris Johnson in City Hall was a mistake.
And in a remarkable broadside on the Tory mayoral candidate, Mr Boff said his party's tactics could damage relations with the Muslim community.
The negative campaign run by the Tories looks set to have failed as a YouGov survey suggested Mr Khan is likely to be 11 points clear of his Tory rival on the first round of voting before he finishes even further ahead once other candidates are eliminated.
The ballot boxes for the London Mayoral election were gathered at the Kensington Olympia today ready for the count to get underway
The London mayoral candidates, Labour's Sadiq Khan with his wife left, and Tory Zac Goldsmith with his wife Alice, right, both emerged to vote early today. They face a long wait for a declaration as the City Hall race will not be counted until tomorrow
The poll indicates Mr Khan is set to shake off the toxic anti-Semitism row which has engulfed Labour for the past week.
But by the time the City Hall results are declared this afternoon, Mr Corbyn is expected to have lost around 150 council seats, overall control of the Welsh Assembly and may have seen his party slip into third place in Scotland.
Minutes after the polls closed in the London mayoral election last night, Mr Boff criticised Mr Goldsmith's strategy for focussing on Mr Khan's apparent links with radical Muslims, telling the BBC: 'It was effectively saying that people of conservative religious views are not to be trusted and you should not share a platform with them. That's outrageous.'
He added Mr Goldsmith had 'done real damage' and had 'blown up bridges' that the Tories had built with London's Muslim communities, adding it was a mistake to 'equate people of conservative religious views with sympathising with terrorism'.
'I mentioned that I thought this was a mistake for future integration in London. If you are a London politician this is just a bizarre thing to do,' he said.
'I do believe it's going to affect Conservatives at the sharp end, especially in those parts of London where there is a high Muslim population.'
Boris Johnson and his wife Marina voted near their Islington home today as his two terms as Mayor drew to a close
In other elections yesterday - dubbed 'super Thursday' because of how many polls are taking place - around 40 new police and crime commissioners will be elected and mayors will also be chosen in Bristol, Salford and Liverpool.
David Cameron is looking to win back council seats lost to Ed Miliband in 2012 while Ukip hopes to capitalise on debate around the EU referendum to make progress in England and Wales.
Two House of Commons by-elections also took place, with Labour retaining safe seats in Ogmore and Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough.
The picture in English councils, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly is expected to be becoming clear by dawn.
Counting in London does not begin until 8am Friday and the successor to Boris Johnson is expected to be declared sometime this afternoon.
The final poll on the London Mayoral race, released today by the Evening Standard, suggested a big win for Mr Khan in the final round run off for City Hall
The final poll, by YouGov for the Evening Standard, suggested a comfortable win for Mr Khan today - forecasting a 57 per cent to 43 per cent margin for the Labour candidate.
In an early blow for Mr Corbyn, one of his most prominent and vocal supporters announced she had voted for someone else.
Charlotte Church, who performed at a tour in support of the new Labour leader, revealed she had backed Plaid Cymru in today's Welsh Assembly elections.
The singer tweeted: '@Plaid_Cymru all the way for me today!!!'
Voters in the London Borough of Barnet reported problems at polling stations today and said they were being turned away and told to come back later.
Jeremy Corbyn cast his ballot in his Islington constituency today as he braced for a tough results night after the polls close at 10pm
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, left, could pull off the unlikely feat of leading the Conservatives to second place in Scotland today. She could be Opposition leader to Nicola Sturgeon, pictured casting her ballot in Glasgow, who is expected to re-elected as First Minister today
David and Samantha Cameron both turned out to vote in the London Mayoral election earlier today
Several people reported on Twitter that polling station staff admitted to not having up to date voter lists - meaning it was impossible to check voters who arrived without polling cards were at the right polling station.
Some voters said they were able to vote with a polling card but others said they were still turned away.
Conor Pope said: 'People in Barnet being turned away and told to come back later because polling stations have wrong voter lists.'
Elizabeth Burling said: 'Unable to vote in Barnet, despite having polling cards, as ''not on the list''.'
But Robert Rams insisted he had been unable to vote without difficult adding: 'Don't know what all the fuss is about.'
Charlotte Church, who has been a vocal support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, revealed she had voted for the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru
Labour yesterday was forced to walk back a prediction from Mr Corbyn that he would not lose any council seats in today's polls.
Asked if Mr Corbyn stood by his forecast today, the spokesman said: 'I think that may have been slightly misinterpreted - what he said was he would make no predictions about the number of seats to be won or lost in the local elections.
'We are not in the business of losing seats and we are fighting to win as many as possible tomorrow.'
Told that was not what Mr Corbyn had said, the spokesman added: 'I'm just explaining, the previous sentence was he was making no predictions about seats being gained or lost.'
A Benedictine Monk from Pluscarden Abbey leaves a polling station in Miltonduff, Moray, after voting in the Scottish Parliament election today
More than 2,700 council seats, mopre than 40 police and crime commissioners and two House of Commons constituencies are also up for grabs in today's elections
Asked if Mr Corbyn had 'misspoken', the spokesman said: 'I'm telling you what he was intending to say.
'He was saying we are not in the business of losing seats, I'm telling you what he has said everywhere else.'
He insisted: 'We are not making predictions about seat losses or gains, that is what he was saying yesterday and will continue to say.
'We will be fighting for every seat that we can win.'
The Tories yesterday continued a last minute scramble to try and reverse Mr Khan's polling lead in London over Zac Goldsmith.
Polling stations were open across the country from 7am today, including inside this portakabin on Bury New Road for local elections in Sedgeley
Voters went to the polls under sunny skies in Haringey, North London, as today's elections continued
The Richmond MP launched a 24 hour campaign blitz, making visits across the capital to venues including a kebab shop, milk round and a street market.
And in the Commons, Mr Cameron used Prime Minister's Questions to ratchet up the pressure on Mr Corbyn over alleged links to Hamas and Hesbollah.
Mr Corbyn initially tried to dodge the issue, insisting: 'I have made it very clear Labour is an anti-racist party and there is no room for anti-Semitism.'
But under intense pressure he then conceded that any group that committed racist or anti-Semitic acts was 'no friend of mine'.
Early voters in Barnet reported problems at the polling stations after they were turned away because voter lists were out of date
Despite advice to take polling cards, one voter Elizabeth Burling said she was still turned away from the polling station by staff
Ian Shapiro said he was one of nine people at his local polling station who had been turned away despite bringing their polling card with them to vote
The attack came after Israeli ambassador Mark Regev delivered a thinly-veiled attack on politicians who 'embrace' Hamas, the armed wing of which is banned in Britain as a terrorist group.
In Scotland, the SNP are expected to be returned with a bigger majority while Labour and the Tories scrap over second place.
Polls suggest Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson could be installed as Opposition Leader as voters continue to turn away from Labour north of the border.
Labour is on course to lose overall control in Wales while Ukip could win their first ever seats in Cardiff Bay - with controversial candidates Neil Hamilton and Mark Reckless at the top of regional lists for seats.
In Scotland, the SNP is expected to extend its majority at Holyrood as the party holds huge polling leads. Labour and the Conservatives are vying for a distant second place
Polling stations are open across Britain as 45 million people are eligible to vote in at least one of scores of election taking place on 'super Thursday'
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