Sadiq Khan announced he will seek a historic third-term as Mayor of London after being backed by the Labour Party for the 2024 election.
The far-left Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan will look to surpass his two predecessors, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson both of whom served two consecutive terms, by clinging onto power for a record third term in office.
Confirming his decision, Khan told the Evening Standard: “I’m more determined than ever to use all the experience and knowledge I’ve gained as mayor to deliver on the issues that matter to Londoners, including supporting them through the cost-of-living crisis.”
The leftist mayor did acknowledge that the 2024 election may prove difficult for him, given that it will be the first London Mayoral election to be run on a first past the post voting system as well as being the first to run under new voter ID rules, which Khan claimed were “deliberately designed to disenfranchise minority communities and disproportionately affect Labour voters.”
Khan’s time in office has been tumultuous at best, with the British capital experiencing a wave of crime that has seen over one hundred killings in each of his years in power.
While he was re-elected for a second term as Mayor of London last year, the most recent polling from YouGov, conducted earlier this year, found that a plurality of Londoners (48 per cent) felt that he was not doing a good job as mayor. The poll went on to find that 60 per cent of Londoners believe Khan was handling crime “badly”.
Yet, it has not merely been the public that has been critical of Khan’s performance on crime. In February, the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents 31,000 Met officers, declared that it had “no faith” in his leadership.
Khan has also been at the forefront of the internet censorship campaign in the country, establishing the Online Hate Crime Hub to police speech on the internet in 2016. In 2019, it was revealed that the £1.7 million unit, also known as the “Twitter Squad”, had investigated 1,612 cases over a two year period, but only managed to secure six convictions.
In October, the mayor inserted himself in the debate over free speech on Twitter following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform. Khan called on Musk to continue censoring material such as “digitally-instigated violent extremism, racism, xenophobia, misogyny and misinformation,” which he said are all “very real, and pose an existential threat to our democracy.”
He has also been an active proponent of a radical green agenda, including announcing earlier this month that he plans on extending the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to the entirety of London, meaning hundreds of thousands of more people will need to pay the climate emissions fine to the London government.
The Tory leader in the London Assembly, Susan Hall said of the prospect of a third Khan term: “London cannot afford another four years of Sadiq Khan.”
“He has hit the poorest with punitive taxes, allowed the Met Police and London Fire Brigade to fall into special measures, and treated City Hall like his own personal PR machine,” she said, concluding: “He has been a complete disaster as Mayor and Londoners are rightly demanding change.”
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