Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan has become the first Muslim mayor of the city of London, defeating Conservative nominee Zac Goldsmith by a 300,000-vote margin and shattering the latter party’s eight-year hold on the city’s top job.
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“Both Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone deserve praise for their plans for cycling, and I want to build on, and accelerate, the progress that we’ve made in London over the last few years”. Londoners deserved better and I hope it’s something the Conservative Party will never try to repeat, ” he wrote.
Khan relied mainly on his solid working class roots and upbringing on a London council housing estate as strong credentials against Goldsmith’s more privileged background.
London is the greatest city in the world.
Khan, whose parents worked as a bus driver and a seamstress, defeated Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith, the son of a billionaire financier, by a record margin to secure the biggest individual mandate in British political history.
The likely Republican candidate during his poll campaign pledged to ban Muslims from entering the United States and reportedly said he doesn’t care if it spoils his poll prospects. “We’ve got to speak to everyone, there is no point us just speaking to Labour voters, our core vote”.
SM It seems striking – forgive me for not leaving this subject – but it seems striking that you can not say London is safe now under its new mayor.
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.
(Far-right) Politician and leader of the Britain First party Paul Golding turns his back on Sadiq Khan’s call for unity.
US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton tweeted: “Son of a Pakistani bus driver, champion of workers’ rights and human rights, and now Mayor of London”.
During the campaign, Muslim groups complained the mayoral contest had sunk to “disturbing lows”, with the Conservatives being accused of trying to exploit racial tensions to help Goldsmith win.
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The victory offered some cheer for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after setbacks elsewhere, following regional elections across Britain on Thursday, amid a damaging row over anti-Semitism in the party.
