Labour lawmaker Sadiq Khan is to be elected London mayor: Report

Labour MP Sadiq Khan is going to be elected Mayor of London, beating the ruling Conservatives' candidate Zac Goldsmith to the coveted position, media reports suggest.

The official result was due to be announced shortly and Sky News said Khan has been elected, according to news agency Reuters.

Sky News based the report on its own calculations.

The position of London mayor provides an influential platform to lobby the government in the interest of London's 8.6 million residents.

The BBC reported Khan got 44.3 percent votes while Goldsmith fared 34.8 percent with the voting still under way.

A candidate will need at least 50 percent votes to win the post.

'The Daily Mail' also said Khan was declared the first Muslim Mayor of London after ‘comfortably’ defeating Tory rival Goldsmith.

Son of immigrants from Pakistan, where his father worked as a bus driver, Khan studied law and later became a human rights lawyer before being elected as the Labour MP for the London constituency of Tooting in 2005.

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown included Khan in his cabinet, first as minister for communities and then transport. 

After Labour lost power in 2010, its leader Ed Miliband included Khan in his shadow cabinet.