The third time in a row
London re-elects Sadiq Khan as mayor
May 4, 2024, 7:42 p.m
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Sadiq Khan, a Labor politician, remains mayor of London. The first Muslim incumbent prevails in the election against his conservative challenger.
In London, Labor politician Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor for the third time in a row. This is evident from the final results of. The 53-year-old, who became the British capital’s first Muslim mayor in 2016, received 43.8 percent of the vote, while his challenger Susan Hall from the Conservatives received 33 percent.
Khan has pledged to build more social housing and work with a future Labor government to deploy more police forces. His victory was widely expected despite public anger over rising stabbing crime and the introduction of special zones that impose a daily fee on drivers of older, more polluting vehicles.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives suffered heavy defeats in this week’s local elections. Labor, on the other hand, won a parliamentary seat in northern England and control of numerous city councils. In doing so, she was able to increase the pressure on Sunak to bring forward the general election, which was actually expected to take place in the second half of the year. There is currently no specific date for this, but a vote must be taken by January 2025.
In national polls, Labor is around 20 percentage points ahead of the Tories. The Conservative Party is threatened with an end to government after 14 years. The last Labor politician to serve as head of government was Gordon Brown, who ruled until 2010. He was followed by the Conservatives David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and most recently Sunak.
Khan, a son of Pakistani immigrants, was the first Muslim politician to be elected mayor of a western capital in 2016. He took over the office from future Prime Minister Boris Johnson.