Why Labour Members Are Finding it Hard to Sell Sadiq Khan to Voters

On a warm Saturday afternoon in Kilburn, members of the local Labour party are knocking on doors ahead of the upcoming London mayoral election on the 5th of May. There's a guy running the clipboard, a young activist, two local councillors and the former MP for Hendon, Andrew Dismore.

The group are having what they describe as an "awful streak". They've been out canvassing for about 40 minutes and no one's answering the door. "I'm starting to suspect the bells aren't working," says Thomas Gardiner, one of the Kilburn councillors.

"Maybe there's a big rugby match on," offers the guy with the clipboard.

Finally, after a couple of minutes of knocking on a door, a woman sticks her head out of the window two floors above. "Do you know who you're going to be voting for on May 5th?" shouts up Jack Boardman, one of the councillors. "Yes, Labour," she says.

Meanwhile, a white middle-aged guy in his fifties has answered the door to Gardiner. Despite being a supporter in the past, he says he thinks Labour's candidate, Sadiq Khan, has "unsavoury views" and is homophobic. He won't be voting for him. Gardiner tells him that Sadiq's voting record on LGBT issues is actually very strong, but it's not enough to persuade him. "Never mind," says Gardiner. "That was someone very clearly affected by Zac's smearing."

What he's referring to here is Zac Goldsmith, the mega-wealthy Eurosceptic, Eton-educated Conservative candidate, who is running a smear-heavy campaign. He's accused his main opponent, the Muslim MP for Tooting and former human rights lawyer, Sadiq Khan, of "giving platform, oxygen and cover" to Islamic extremists. Some call these kind of tactics racist; others call them toxic.

Despite Sadiq having pledged to combat the housing and pollution crises, smears made by Zac's camp are making it hard for activists to sell the Labour candidate to voters on the doorstep. However, this isn't the only reason the campaign mood is flat. One of the problems with this election in general is that both the main candidates seem pretty lacklustre. In the past you've had big characters in London – Ken and Boris, well-known people with big (and outrageous) personalities who transcend their parties. Sadiq just isn't that guy.

"It's hard to be totally enthusiastic about him. It's tough on the doorsteps, but what can you do?" says one party member in Hackney North. "You just go out and try and do your best. He wouldn't be a disaster, but the atmosphere is flat and kind of uninterested at the moment. You do it for two hours and you might speak to three people who are going to vote Labour."

Gardiner agrees: "He's not the most exciting of candidates, but I don't think that remotely means he won't be a good administrator of London. You don't have to be exciting personally to do it, but it does seem like an odd choice for the campaign to push him as a person rather than the Labour Party, which frankly brings in most of the votes."

Others are more scathing and have even put money on Zac to win. "Although I want Sadiq to get it, he's generally a massive turn-off for voters," says one North London councillor, who put a bet on Zac a few weeks ago.

"I've put money on Zac as well," says the member of Hackney North.

Some think that the lack of atmosphere surrounding the election is being exacerbated by the fact that it's the year after a general election, so there's always less oomph, combined with the fact that the EU referendum is coming up. "Regardless of this, you'd think that after eight years of a Tory mayor the left would at least be quite enthusiastic about getting rid of them. You don't really get that feeling at all," says Gardiner, who fears that if turnout is low, Zac will win.

Another explanation for the downbeat feeling on the ground is that Sadiq has failed to cultivate supporters along the way. "Boris is a big character and people love to be around him, whereas Sadiq hasn't spent his time making friends, keeping people close and getting more people involved," says the member for Hackney North. "I've sat on a committee with him for over two years and had meetings with him about six times a year. [They have been] small [meetings] and he still doesn't know my name or recognise me – the rest of us know each other quite well."

People close to Khan say he's not the scariest, or the most friendly, but he is driven. Steve Race, a party member in Hackney South and a former parliamentary candidate, says: "I think he's saying all the right things. He's identified what his main weaknesses are and he has attacked them. People said he is anti-Jewish and anti-business, and he's managed to get City AM and the Jewish Chronicle on side – these are big things. He's also working with the LGBT communities in Vauxhall and Soho."

Another problem with the campaign is due to a perceived lack of leadership at the national level. Perhaps as a result, Sadiq's campaign material distances him from the party, despite him not having a personal brand or following. The leaflets being handed out in Hampstead and Kilburn aren't the usual glaring red and yellow, and they don't have an obvious Labour rosette on them.

Simon Evans, a party member who campaigns across London, can understand why Sadiq's team have done this: "He is struggling in outer London mainly because of Corbyn. I think the polls are overestimating his support, and this is confirmed by reactions on the phones and on the doorstep."

The danger for Labour is that Tory smear campaigns have worked in the past. The polls can't be trusted any more, and the Conservatives have proven they don't need thousands of activists to win; they have a strong social media strategy that focuses on swing voters and the turnout of their own supporters.

As a result, even the most enthusiastic activists are feeling uncertain. On the doorstep in Kilburn, newcomer Sienna Rodgers, 22, who's been a Labour Party member for six years and is on her first campaigning session, says: "I've met Sadiq and I think he's a really good and decent guy. He's really personable and that's quite a contrast to Zac, who's dashing – but so what?"

But is it enough? Does she think he'll win? "I honestly don't know. I'm hopeful."

• This article was amended on 19th April to change "MP Andrew Dismore" to "former MP"

@tessreidy

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