Trying to pull ahead in a neck-and-neck race to become mayor of Britain’s capital city, former mayor and Labor Party candidate Ken Livingstone has adopted a surprising tactic: appealing to Islam.

Speaking at the infamous Finsbury Park Mosque—known as a recruiting station for terrorists—on March 16, Mr. Livingstone promised that if elected, he would use his position as mayor to spread knowledge of Islam.

“I want as mayor in the next four years to make sure that every non-Muslim in London knows and understands the words and message” of Mohammed’s last sermon, he said.

He said he wanted to “educate the mass of Londoners who have no understanding of Islam other than what they read in the worst of our newspapers.”

“That will help to cement our city as a beacon that demonstrates the meaning of the words of the prophet,” he said.

Perhaps more surprising than Mr. Livingstone’s words was his choice of location for the speech. Until 2003, Finsbury Park Mosque was run by radical cleric Abu Hamza, who promoted jihad and praised the September 11 suicide bombers.

Since then, they claim to have cleaned up their act. The mosque is now run by the Muslim Association of Britain, which appears to be more moderate than Abu Hamza. However, the association was founded by Muslim Brotherhood activists. One-time spokesman for the group Azzam Tamimi has repeatedly praised terrorist group Hamas. Last month he said: “I have a great honor to be close to Hamas,” and that “all the leaders of Hamas are my friends.”

One of the trustees, Mohammad Sawalha, has been described by the bbc’s John Ware as a “fugitive Hamas commander.” Ware said, “From London, Sawalha is said to have masterminded much of Hamas’ political and military strategy.” Sawalha has also used Britain’s notoriously bad libel laws to silence his critics, who include British journalist Melanie Phillips.

The mosque is currently being investigated by the Charity Commission, as Labor M.P. Khalid Mahmood claimed that his signature had been forged in the trust declaration of the mosque.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph reports that this is not the first time Mr. Livingstone has courted Islamic voters. Last election he had the support of the Islamic Forum of Europe (ife)—a group that aims to create an “Islamic social and political order.”

“During his mayoralty, Mr. Livingstone’s London Development Agency channeled hundreds of thousands of pounds to the East London Mosque in Tower Hamlets, controlled by the ife, even though senior lda managers strongly opposed the grant,” it writes. “In return, ife activists campaigned strongly for him at the 2008 mayoral elections, boasting that they ‘got out the vote’ for Mr. Livingstone and achieving dramatic swings to him in their East London heartland.”

In 2002, Britain’s Guardian reported that 1 million of London’s 7 million inhabitants were Muslim. Seeing as Islam is one of Britain’s fastest-growing religions, the proportion of Muslims has probably increased since then.

In 2008, 2.5 million people voted in the elections. Mr. Livingstone lost by 140,000. Promising to make London a beacon for Islam is actually a viable election strategy. Mr. Livingstone’s appearance was simply prudent politics.

It may not be enough to save Livingstone—some of his own supporters are deserting him after he was caught avoiding taxes after condemning tax avoidance—but it shows how powerful Islam is becoming in the UK if a candidate with links to Islamic extremists can be a serious contender. Imagine if a candidate for the mayor of New York promised to make the Big Apple a beacon for Islam.

It shows how Islamic extremism is transforming Britain. To learn more about this canker and how it was prophesied in advance, see our article “The Sickness in Britain’s Heart.”