London takes center stage as vote count begins in mayoral contest that could be closer than thought

LONDON (AP) — London took center stage on Saturday as the counting of votes began in the capital city's mayoral contest, a day after Britain's governing Conservative Party suffered a drubbing in local election results.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party mayor who is chasing a historic third straight election win, had been widely expected to win easily, but there are some concerns that the race may be tighter than previously thought.

That's mainly due to the fact that turnout at Thursday's election — at a total of 40.5% — was higher in the outer suburbs than in the inner city. Khan's main opponent, the Conservatives' Susan Hall, focused her campaign on issues such as a levy imposed on high-polluting vehicles, which has resonated in the suburbs where residents depend more on their cars for work and essential travel.

Also, there are concerns within Labour that Khan may have suffered from the blowback of the party leadership's strong pro-Israel stance over the war in Gaza, which results Friday clearly showed depressed support in strongly Muslim areas in England.