Sadiq Khan re-elected for second term as London mayor

Sadiq Khan has been re-elected for a second term as London mayor.
He triumphed over Conservative Shaun Bailey, gaining 1,013,721 first preference votes compared to his nearest challenger’s 893,051.
Labour Party candidate Mr Khan received 192,313 second preference votes, with Mr Bailey picking up 84,550.
This meant Mr Khan won by 55.2% to Mr Bailey’s 44.8%.
Mr Khan went into Saturday with a lead of 24,267 first preference votes over his Tory rival after the first seven constituencies were declared – a closer contest than many had predicted.
Advertisement
Voter turnout was just 42.2%.
After he was re-elected, Mr Khan said: “I am deeply humbled by the trust Londoners have placed in me to continue leading the greatest city on earth.
“I promise to strain every sinew, help build a better and brighter future for London, after the dark days of the pandemic and to create a greener, fairer and safer city for all Londoners, to get the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential.
“I am proud to have won an overwhelming mandate today.”
His rival Mr Bailey said Londoners had not “written him off”.
He said: “As I went through these, for me what was two years of campaigning, one feeling felt familiar to me, one challenge had always felt the same.
“And that was the feeling of being written off – by pollsters, by journalists, by fellow politicians.
“But it’s no surprise to me that Londoners didn’t write me off.”
Mr Khan is a former member of parliament, who became the first Muslim to head a major Western capital after his victory in 2016.
He has faced some criticism over the level of violent crime in the city of almost nine million people and this, along with other security issues, led to a series of Twitter fights with Donald Trump, who was US president for much of Mr Khan’s first term.
His success also comes after a disappointing performance from the Labour Party in local elections, particularly in parts of the country which had been seen as the party’s heartlands.