On leaving the tube station on Thursday morning, I was confronted with a billboard boldly declaring “Suicide bomb backer runs Ken’s campaign.”

The headline refers to comments made in 2004 by Azzam Tamimi who is part of a campaign encouraging young Muslims to vote for Ken. In a BBC interview, Tamimi revealed that he would be prepared to perform a suicide bomb attack in Palestine. Another headline, “Embracing Islam gives Ken new election hope”, links pro Ken Islamic leaders and groups with Islamic extremism. The following question is asked:

“Ken appears to want the Muslims to help him with a historic victory of his own. The question many will ask is: what is he giving in return?” 

A close association with someone making remarks such as those made by Tamimi could be damaging for Ken. However, the extent to which the stories have attacked Ken’s association with Islam in general could prove to be more damaging for Boris.

These two articles attack Ken’s association with Muslim leaders and groups, and express concern about a deal being struck between Ken and the Muslim community. This is likely to be perceived as Islamaphobic by the Muslim community, and with the Evening Standard being staunch and declared allies of Boris, could damage Boris by association among these communities. Given Boris’ history of inadvisable comments about Islam, his support from the BNP, and with other more moderate friends such as David Cameron keeping their distance, could these articles play into a narrative which actually harms Boris more than Ken?