Sadiq Khan elected London mayor
Labour’s Sadiq Khan will take office as the new Mayor of London after successfully beating Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614.
Mr Khan, 45, is the city’s first Muslim mayor, and his victory has given him historically the largest personal mandate of any politician in UK.
Ending eight-years of Tory control of London’s City Hall is being hailed a true reflection to the diversity of Britain. The former Labour MP and minister, becomes London’s third mayor after Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson.
London’s outgoing mayor Boris Johnson congratulated Mr Khan on “securing a huge mandate to do the best job in British politics” and wished him “every possible success”.
Mr Khan distanced himself from Mr Corbyn during the campaign, pledging to freeze fares on the capital’s transport network and build more affordable housing, but also promising to champion business and cut taxes on enterprise.
In his victory speech, he referred to his humble origins on a council estate and said he had never imagined that “someone like me could be elected as mayor of London,” promising to be a mayor “for all Londoners”.
Sadiq Khan said he was ‘deeply humbled’ by London Mayor win and that the campaign had not been without controversy, but added: “I am so proud that London has today chosen hope over fear”.
He added that the “politics of fear is not welcome in our city”.
Questions are now being focused on the tone of the Conservative campaign, which accused Mr Khan of sharing a platform with Islamist extremists.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon – who said during the election campaign that Mr Khan was unfit to be mayor – said it was legitimate to put a candidate under scrutiny.
Michael Fallon is repeatedly asked if he trusts Sadiq Khan with the safety of Londoners
“Both candidates were asked questions about their backgrounds, their personalities, their judgements, the people they associate with. That’s the nature of our democracy and the rough and tumble of politics,” he said on radio.
Mr Fallon repeatedly declined to say whether he thought Mr Khan was a security risk to London, instead saying: “London is safe with a Conservative government working with the new mayor of London.”
Meanwhile, Zac Goldsmith says he is disappointed with the result, but paid tribute to Sadiq Khan.
Mr Goldsmith’s sister Jemima has criticised how Mr Goldsmith’s campaign was run, while former Conservative cabinet minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi called it an “appalling dog whistle campaign”.
She also congratulated Mr Khan, calling him a “great example to young Muslims”.
Sadiq Khan’s childhood is the classic story of most first generation Pakistani’s in Britain. He was one of eight children born to Pakistani immigrants, a bus driver and a seamstress, on a south London housing estate.
From an early age, he showed a firm resolve to defy the odds in order to win success for himself and the causes important to him.
That resolve has won him the biggest personal mandate in the UK, a job with wide-ranging powers over London and with enormous emotional significance for him.
Some question whether he has the experience or record of good judgement necessary for the role.
He insists he is there to represent all Londoners and to tackle inequality in the capital, and now he is eager to prove it.
