Labor Sadiq Khan became the first elected official to win London mayorship for a third term on Saturday May 4. But beyond this result, these local elections mark a large victory for Labor, a few months before the legislative elections.
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Sadiq Khan, repeated his 2021 feat by massively overtaking his Conservative rival Susan Hall in the Labor cores of east and south London. He received more than a million votes with 43.8% of the votes cast, more than eleven points more than his competitor. In his speech just after the announcement of the results, he said to himself: honored ” And ” proud » and said he hoped that this year would be that of a “ big change ” with ” a future Labor government “. He also praised in his victory, that of a campaign which defended “ a city that sees our diversity not as a weakness but as a powerful strength, which rejects populism and moves forward “.
Sadiq Khan, 53, son of a bus driver, first won the London mayorship in 2016. He then became the first Muslim to lead a Western capital. With this third term, he beats his predecessor, the conservative, in terms of longevity. Boris Johnsonelected twice.
For his first term, Sadiq Khan had fought forcefully against the Brexit. This time he promised a city “ fairer, safer, greener for everyone “. He wants to expand his free lunch program for public school children. The man who grew up in social housing, in Tooting in south London, has pledged that 40,000 new social homes will be built. He promised to take action to ensure that there were no more homeless people in London by 2030.
The Tories’ pet peeve
The man, considered uncharismatic, has become the bête noire of the conservative press and the Tories, in power in United Kingdom since 2010. They relentlessly attack him on security. They accuse him of being responsible for the increase in stabbing attacks, a scourge that Sadiq Khan attributes for his part to the austerity policy of conservative governments which would have led to a reduction in police numbers.
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Sadiq Khan’s opponents also accuse him of having extended last year to greater London the tax on polluting vehicles, introduced in 2015 by Boris Johnson. Conservatives accuse him of having little regard for Londoners suffering from the cost of living crisis.
These attacks sometimes get out of hand. Former Tory Deputy Prime Minister Lee Anderson claimed in February 2024 that Islamists had “ took control » by Sadiq Khan. “ He gave our capital to his acolytes », assured the MP who today joined the far-right Reform UK party. A few years earlier, in 2019, the former American president Donald Trump had for his part targeted Sadiq Khan during a wave of jihadist attacks in Londonand called him “ national shame ” and of ” total loser “. “ Only one of us is a loser, and it’s not me “, Sadiq Khan then retorted.
A massive electoral setback for the conservatives
Beyond this single London case, the latest results of the local elections confirm the large victory of Labor in the country, in a vote in the form of a final test before the legislative elections in a few months. In total, Labor won more than 180 seats and will lead eight more local councils. The Conservatives lost more than 470 seats and lost control of at least ten local councils. On Friday, the first results showed that the Tories were going to experience their worst defeat in forty years in a local election.
In addition to London, Labor has at this stage won eight of the eleven municipal elections which were held in several large cities in the country, such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds or Sheffield (South Yorkshire), but also in the conurbation of York and North Yorkshire, right where the Prime Minister’s constituency is located. All is not rosy for Labor, however, which has notably lost voters due to its position considered by some of its voters to be too pro-Israeli in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In any case, the Labor opposition’s substantial gains strengthen its hopes that its leader, Keir Starmer, will arrive in Downing Street after the general elections scheduled for later this year. “ Today we celebrate the beginning of a page turning, one of the last stages before the legislative elections », welcomed the latter in Mansfield in the East Midlands where he celebrated the election of Labor mayor Clare Ward. “ Let’s turn the page on decline and launch national renewal with Labor », he added, promising in particular to rebuild the adrift health system, after having called the Prime Minister the day before, Rishi Sunakto call legislative elections.
“ Only conservatives have a program “, according to Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak, who faces divisions in his ranks, again defended his policies on Saturday, including his plan to deport migrants to the Rwanda or even its tax cuts. “ Labor hasn’t won in places they admitted they had to win » to obtain a majority at the end of the next legislative elections. “ Only conservatives have a program » for the country, he assured in a column published on May 3 in the conservative newspaper The Telegraph.
While the count is still underway in the hotly contested West Midlands (Birmingham), the Conservatives must be content with a single victory for the moment, with the re-election of the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley (east), Ben Houchen, announced Friday. Rishi Sunak ran to congratulate him, seeing it as a sign that the Conservatives can still turn things around before the legislative elections. This victory is proof that “ the conservatives keep their promise “, he declared, praising in particular the success of several economic projects, and saying he was convinced that the voters “ will remain faithful too » to the conservatives during the legislative elections.
The rise of Reform UK, a nationalist and populist party, founded by Brexit champion Nigel Farage, is also cause for concern for the Conservatives, who could lose votes to them in the legislative elections.
Sadiq Khan, face of diversity
Sadiq Khan embodies one of those “success stories” that London loves. In this global city proud of its diversity, 46% of residents identify as Asian, black, mixed or “ others “. Sadiq Khan never misses an opportunity to look back on his humble origins and readily talks about the fact that he observes the Ramadan fast, does not drink alcohol and tries to say his prayers every day.
Sadiq Khan was born on October 8, 1970 into a Pakistani family who had recently immigrated to the United Kingdom. He grew up with six brothers and a sister and attended the local public high school and the University of North London. As a child, he boxed so that he could more easily impress those who dared to call him “Paki”. At 15, he joined the Labor Party when Margaret Thatcher was in power.
One of his professors noticed his gift for oratorical jousts and directed him towards law studies. In 2005, he abandoned his career as a lawyer specializing in human rights to get elected as a deputy. Three years later, Gordon Brown offered him the post of Minister responsible for Communities, then that of Transport the following year. He becomes the first Muslim to sit in the cabinet of a British Prime Minister.
When Buckingham Palace asked him which Bible he wanted to swear on, Sadiq Khan offered to bring his Koran. He leaves his copy at the palace, hoping that it will be useful “ for the next one “.