London mayoral election: Sadiq Khan asks to borrow Lib Dem and Green votes

There are 100 days left before the vote for the next inhabitant of city hall

London mayor Sadiq Khan has urged supporters of the Lib Dems and Greens to "lend" him their vote in this year's race for City Hall.

With 100 days to go, Labour's Mr Khan is seeking to be re-elected on 2 May to serve a record third term.

He says the Conservative government has changed the voting system to give their candidate a better chance.

But their candidate Susan Hall said voters would back the best person to lead the capital.

She dismissed Mr Khan's suggestion, saying it was a "two-horse race" and voters should choose her if they wanted a change after eight years.

The past five contests have used a method called the supplementary vote (SV), in which voters cast a first and second choice. The second-preference votes from the other candidates were redistributed to the top two candidates.

But this is being replaced by the first-past-the-post system (FPTP) used to elect MPs, where voters get one choice.

• The candidates vying to be the next London mayor

Mr Khan told BBC London this had been done to give the Conservatives a better chance of winning in London.

"What I am saying to my Lib Dem and Green friends, in the most respectful way, is that in the last 24 years the Tories have come first or second.

"If you want a safer, greener, fairer London, lend me your vote."

Conservative candidate Ms Hall added: "Very many people aren't naturally political and they want what's best for London. All of us can see the problems it has got."

Mayor Sadiq Khan during his speech to the Fabian Society conference in central London on Saturday

The Green candidate Zoe Garbett said the mayor's call for "progressives" to back him would fail, because Labour was "anything but progressive".

Much more needed to be done to tackle inequality and the housing crisis, she said.

"The outgoing mayor should be focusing on his record - and the fact he isn't tells us a lot. Just a quick look at his record on climate, the Silvertown tunnel, London City Airport and his 'retrofit revolution' failure show a mayor that hasn't really lived up to his promises."

The Lib Dems' Rob Blackie also rejected Mr Khan's appeal to their voters to switch, saying Mr Khan needed a "serious liberal challenger" to hold him to account, especially over a crisis in policing.

"Instead of getting on with the difficult business of governing our city, he has issued press release and press release and blamed everyone but himself for London's failures.

"The Conservatives have ruled themselves out the race with a knee-jerk, Trump-backing candidate unfit for office."

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