As the result became a mathematical near-certainty, the Mayors of Brussels, then Montpellier, tweeted their warm wishes to Mr Khan.
Advertisement
“The decency of Londoners, the decency of British people, will always cut through”, he said at a swearing-in ceremony at Southwark Cathedral in south London.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo added on Twitter that Khan’s “humanity, progressivism will benefit Londoners”.
In his victory speech in the early hours of Saturday morning, Khan referenced the negative campaign against him by saying London had chosen “unity over division”.
Dean of Southwark Andrew Nunn told the congregation the new mayor’s victory brought a “carnival atmosphere” to the sacred building.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “I look forward to working with him, and all London’s new and re-elected Assembly members, to continue transforming the Met to keep London one of the safest capitals in the world”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was conspicuously absent from Sadiq Khan’s swearing ceremony, opting instead to visit Bristol to congratulate the city’s newly elected mayor Marvin Rees. “I will be a mayor of all Londoners”.
Khan accused Goldsmith of running a “nasty, dog-whistling campaign”.
Khan won with 1,310,143 votes, beating Goldsmith, who got 994,614 votes.
According to the local media reports, Sadiq Khan was running for the post with Tory Zac Goldsmith whom he defeated comfortably by receiving more votes.
That achievement, and his rise from humble origins, won him praise from Britons online, even Conservatives like Sajid Javid, the business secretary, and Sayeeda Warsi, a former cabinet minister – who were both, like Khan, the children of Pakistani bus drivers.
Goldsmith and outgoing mayor Boris Johnson favour a vote to leave when Britain holds a referendum on the issue next month.
London Labour MP David Lammy, who ran against Khan for the party’s Mayoral nomination, described Khan’s victory as “extraordinary”.
JENNY GROSS: What Zac Goldsmith did was he tried to link Sadiq Khan to extremists, but ended up back firing. “I will be a mayor for all Londoners”.
In Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party and son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and rival opposition leader Imran Khan also tweeted their congratulations.
Advertisement
Abroad, however, it seems the faith and family background of Sadiq Khan is seen through a somewhat different prism: in much foreign #media coverage of the elections, it was overwhelmingly more important than his #politics.
