LONDON — Sadiq Khan became London’s first Muslim mayor Saturday, as voters rejected attempts to taint him with links to extremism and handed a decisive victory to the bus driver’s son from south London.
Khan hailed his victory as the triumph of ‘‘hope over fear and unity over division.’’
His victory was the most dramatic result in local and regional elections that produced few big changes but underscored Britain’s political divisions ahead of a referendum on whether to remain in the European Union.
Labor Party candidate Khan received more than 1.3 million votes — 57 percent of the total — to Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith’s 43 percent, after voters’ first and second preferences were allocated. The turnout was 45.6 percent, up from 38 percent in 2012.
The official results came past midnight — more than 24 hours after polls closed — after delays due to what officials called ‘‘small discrepancies’’ in the count.
Khan was elected to replace Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson after a campaign marked — and many said marred — by US-style negative campaigning. Goldsmith, a wealthy environmentalist, called Khan divisive and accused him of sharing platforms with Islamic extremists — a charge repeated by Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior Conservatives.
Khan, who calls himself ‘‘the British Muslim who will take the fight to the extremists,’’ accused Goldsmith of trying to scare and divide voters in a proudly multicultural city of 8.6 million people — more than 1 million of them Muslim.
The attacks, criticized by some senior Conservatives, appear not to have deterred voters from backing Khan. London has seen attacks by Islamic extremists, including July 2005 suicide bombings that killed 52 bus and subway commuters, but has avoided the level of racial and religious tensions seen in some European cities.
‘‘Fear does not make us safer — it only makes us weaker,’’ Khan said in his victory speech. ‘‘And the politics of fear is simply not welcome in our city.’’
Former Conservative strategist Steve Hilton told the BBC that Goldsmith’s campaign had brought back ‘‘the ‘nasty party’ label to the Conservative party’’ — and said Khan’s victory sent a ‘‘positive and powerful message about London.’’
Even Goldsmith’s sister criticized his tactics. Journalist and socialite Jemima Goldsmith tweeted: ‘‘Sad that Zac’s campaign did not relect who I know him to be.’’
Labor, Britain’s main opposition party, performed strongly in the capital, taking more than 40 percent of Londoners’ votes.
That and Khan’s victory were bright spots for Labor, which was pushed into third place in Scotland. The Conservatives on Thursday became the main opposition in Scotland’s Parliament.
