Zac Goldsmith, Conservative hopeful for City Hall, floundered in a trivia quiz on London, with just over a month to go before the 5 May election. Goldsmith embarrassingly failed to give the correct answers to the majority of Norman Smiths questions, as the top BBC journalist drove the Tory around the capital in a black cab.
Goldsmith revealed he didnt know where the Museum of London is located (close to the Barbican Centre), which football team played at Loftus Road (Queens Park Rangers) and the name of the Underground station on the Central Line past Tottenham Court Road if you travelled eastwards (Holborn).
Im going to stop you there: most people have a route or two routes and they become like an extension of the body, the Richmond Park MP protested. But for me when its outside the norm you have apps like Citymapper which you rely on every day.
Goldsmiths saving grace was his surprise knowledge of the BBCs London based so-opera EastEnders. The Mayor of London candidate correctly guessed that the villainous Dirty Den Watts was the first landlord of the Queen Vic pub.
The lacklustre performance will likely do nothing for the Old Etonians man of the people credentials. But Goldsmiths main rival for the top job in City Hall, Labours Sadiq Khan, told IBTimes UK he doesnt want the election to be a referendum on social class.
None of us are responsible for our background. The reason why I talk about my background is because thats what motivates me, and I feel very strongly about todays Londoners missing out on the chances that we had, the son of a bus driver turned Tooting MP argued.
Its not Zac Goldsmiths fault who is family is, nor is it my fault who my family are. It should be a campaign based on policies, based on whos got a vision for addressing the issues we have.
A poll from Opinium, of more than 1,000 people between 30 March and 3 April, put Khan eight points ahead of Goldsmith in the second round of voting (54% versus 46%).
