Sir Sadiq Aman Khan[a] (born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as the third and currentmayor of London since 2016. He was previously theMember of Parliament (MP) forTooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of theLabour Party, Khan is on the party'ssoft left and has been ideologically characterised as asocial democrat.
Khan is the only mayor of London to have been awarded aknighthood. His policies as Mayor have resulted in making London's transport more accessible and reducing the number of polluting vehicles in central London. Conversely, his tenure has seenrising levels of gun and knife crimes in the city.
Khan and his siblings were raisedSunni Muslims in a three-bedroomcouncil flat on the Henry Prince Estate inEarlsfield.[10] He attended Fircroft Primary School and thenErnest Bevin School, a localcomprehensive.[10] Khan studied science and mathematics atA-Level, in the hope of eventually becoming a dentist. A teacher recommended that he study law instead, as he had an argumentative personality. The teacher's suggestion, along with the American television programmeL.A. Law, inspired Khan to do so. He studied law at theUniversity of North London (nowLondon Metropolitan University).[3] His parents later moved out of their council flat and purchased their own home.[10] Like his brothers, Khan was a fan of sport, particularly enjoying football, cricket, and boxing.[10]
From his earliest years, Khan worked: "I was surrounded by my mum and dad working all the time, so as soon as I could get a job, I got a job. I got a paper round, a Saturday job – some summers I laboured on a building site."[3] The family continues to send money to relatives in Pakistan, "because we're blessed being in this country". He and his family often encountered racism, which led to him and his brothers taking up boxing at the Earlsfield Amateur Boxing Club.[3] While studying for his degree, between the ages of 18 and 21, he had a Saturday job at thePeter Jones department store inSloane Square.[11]
Also in 1994, Khan became atrainee solicitor at a firm of solicitors called Christian Fisher;[12] the firm undertook mainly legal aid cases. The partners were Michael Fisher andLouise Christian.[15] Khan became a partner at the firm in 1997,[12] and like Christian, specialised inhuman rights law.[3] When Fisher left in 2002, the firm was renamedChristian Khan.[12][15][16] Khan left the firm in 2004, after he became the prospective Labour candidate for the Tooting parliamentary constituency.[12]
During his legal career, he acted in actions againstemployment anddiscrimination law, judicial reviews, inquests, the police, and crime, and was involved in cases including the following:
Farrakhan v Home Secretary (Human Rights Act): in 2001, Khan represented the AmericanNation of Islam leaderLouis Farrakhan in the High Court and overturned a ban on him entering the United Kingdom, first imposed in 1986. The government subsequently won on appeal.[23][24]
In February 2000, Khan represented a group of Kurdish actors who were arrested by Metropolitan Police during a rehearsal of theHarold Pinter playMountain Language, securing £150,000 in damages for the group for their wrongful arrest and the trauma caused by the arrest.[25]
RepresentedMaajid Nawaz, Reza Pankhurst and Ian Nisbet in Egyptian court when they were arrested on charges of trying to reviveHizb ut-Tahrir.[26][27]
Parliamentary career
First term: 2005–2010
Sadiq Khan in 2009
Before entering Parliament, Khan represented Tooting as a councillor onWandsworth Council from 1994 to 2006,[28] and was granted the title ofHonoraryAlderman ofWandsworth upon his retirement from local politics.[29]
In 2003, TootingConstituency Labour Party decided to open its parliamentary selection to all interested candidates, including the incumbent MP since 1974,Tom Cox. This prompted Cox, then in his mid-70s, to announce his retirement rather than risk de-selection. In the subsequent selection contest, Khan defeated five other local candidates to become Labour's candidate for the seat. He was elected toParliament at the2005 general election.
Khan was one of the Labour MPs who led the successful opposition to Prime MinisterTony Blair's proposed introduction of 90 days' detention without charge for those suspected of terrorism offences.[30] In recognition of this,The Spectator – a right-wing magazine then edited byBoris Johnson – awarded him the "Newcomer of the Year Award" at the 2005 Parliamentarian of the Year Awards.[30] The magazine's editorial board stated that he had received the award "for the tough-mindedness and clarity with which he has spoken about the very difficult issues of Islamic terror".[31]
In August 2006, two days after seven terrorists were arrested for attempting the2006 transatlantic aircraft plot Khan signed an open letter to Tony Blair that was signed by prominent Muslims and published inThe Guardian. The letter criticisedUK foreign policy and in particular the 2003 invasion of Iraq, stating that Blair's policies had caused great harm to civilians in the Middle East and provided "ammunition to extremists who threaten us all".[32][33] In interviews with the BBC, Labour Home Secretary John Reid – who had coordinated the arrests – described the letter as "a dreadful misjudgement", and formerConservative leaderMichael Howard described it as "a form of blackmail".[34]
Khan meeting with British troops stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2008
Khan had to repay £500 inexpenses in 2007 in relation to a newsletter sent to constituents featuring a "Labour rose", which was deemed to be unduly prominent. While the content of the newsletter was not deemed to be party political, the rose logo was found to be unduly prominent which may have had the effect of promoting a political party. There was no suggestion that Khan had deliberately or dishonestly compiled hisexpenses claims, which were not explicitly disallowed under the rules at that time. The rules were retrospectively changed disallowing the claim, which had previously been approved by the House of Commons authorities.[35][36]
On 3 February 2008,The Sunday Times[37] claimed that a conversation between Khan and prisonerBabar Ahmad – a constituent accused of involvement in terrorism – atWoodhill Prison inMilton Keynes had beenbugged by theMetropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch.[38] An inquiry was launched by theJustice Secretary,Jack Straw.[38] There was concern that the bugging contravened theWilson Doctrine that police should not bug MPs. The report concluded that the doctrine did not apply because it affected only bugging requiring approval by the Home Secretary, while in Khan's case the monitoring was authorised by a senior police officer. The Home Secretary,Jacqui Smith, then announced a further policy review and said the bugging of discussions between MPs and their constituents should be banned.[39]
In June 2007, Blair stood down as both Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, to be replaced by Gordon Brown. Brown thought highly of Khan, who moved up the parliamentary ranks under Brown's Premiership.[32] Brown made Khan a party whip, who was therefore charged with ensuring that Labour-sponsored legislation made it through the parliamentary process to become law.[32] In July 2008, Khan helped push through a government proposal to permit the detention of those suspected of terror offences for 42 days without charge.[32] For his part in this, Khan was criticised by Liberty'sShami Chakrabarti and others, who claimed that Khan had contravened his principles on civil liberties issues.[32]
In 2008, theFabian Society published Khan's book,Fairness Not Favours. In this work, Khan argued that the Labour Party had to reconnect with British Muslims, arguing that it had lost the trust of this community as a result of theIraq War.[42] He also said that British Muslims had their own part to play in reconnecting with politicians, arguing that they needed to rid themselves of avictim mentality and take greater responsibility for their own community.[43] In the House of Commons in January 2009, Khan criticisedPope Benedict XVI for the rehabilitation ofBishop Richard Williamson following his remarks aboutthe Holocaust, a move he described as "highly unsavoury" and of "great concern".[44]
In June 2009 he was promoted toMinister of State for Transport.[43][41][45] In what was believed to be a first for an MP, Khan used his Twitter account to self-announce his promotion.[46] Though Khan was not a member of thecabinet, he attended meetings for agenda items covering his policy area,[47] thus becoming the first Muslim to attend the British Cabinet.[43] As Transport Minister, Khan supported plans to expandHeathrow Airport withthe addition of a third runway.[48]
During this period, Khan served as chairman of the socialistFabian Society,[49] remaining on its executive committee. He is a vice president of the Fabian Society.[50] In 2009, he won the Jenny Jeger Award (Best Fabian Pamphlet) for his workFairness not Favours: How to re-connect with British Muslims.[51][52]
In March 2010, Khan publicly stated that for a second successive year he would not be taking a pay rise as an MP or Minister, declaring "At a time when many people in Tooting and throughout the country are having to accept pay freezes I don't think it's appropriate for MPs to accept a pay rise."[53]
Khan orchestrated Ed Miliband's successful campaign to become Labour Leader and later served in Miliband's Shadow Cabinet.
In April 2010 it was revealed that Khan had repaid falsely claimed expenses on two occasions, when literature was sent to his constituents. The first incident concerned letters sent out before the 2010 General Election which were ruled to have the "unintentional effect of promoting his return to office", the second a £2,550 repayment for Christmas,Eid, and birthday cards for constituents, dating back to 2006.[62] Under House of Commons rules, pre-paid envelopes and official stationery can only be used for official parliamentary business.[63][64][65] Khan's claim for the greetings cards was initially rejected, but he presented a new invoice no longer identifying the nature of the claim, and this was accepted. Khan attributed the improper claim for the cards to "inexperience" and human error and apologised for breaking theexpenses rules.[66][67]
In early 2013, Miliband appointed Khan as theShadow Minister for London, a position that he held in addition to his other responsibilities.[68][61] In December 2013, the Fabian Society published a collection of essays edited by Khan that was titledOur London.[68] Khan was also tasked with overseeing Labour's campaign for the2014 London local elections,[48] in which the party advanced its control in the city, gaining hold of twenty of the thirty-two boroughs.[69] By this point, there was much talk of Khan making a bid for the London Mayoralty in 2016, when incumbent Mayor Boris Johnson would be stepping down.[68] His options were affected by the outcome of the2015 general election; if Labour won, then he would be expected to become a government minister, but if they lost then he would be free to pursue the Mayoralty.[68] In December 2015, Khan voted against the Cameron government's plans to expand the bombing of targets in theIslamic State.[70]
Polls had suggested that Labour could be the largest party in ahung parliament following the 2015 general election, but ultimately the Conservatives secured victory.[71] In the vote, Khan was returned for a third term as MP for Tooting, defeating his Conservative rival by 2,842 votes.[72][73] He was one of 36Labour MPs to nominateJeremy Corbyn as acandidate in theLabour leadership election of 2015, but has said that he was "no patsy" to Corbyn and would stand up to him.[74][75] He later stated that he nominated Corbyn to "broaden the debate" but did not then vote for him.[76]
In 2016, Sadiq Khan ran formayor of London and was elected with 57% of the vote. He became the third ever London mayor, the first Muslim mayor and firstethnic minority mayor.[82] Khan was officially sworn in atSouthwark Cathedral the following day.[83] His first act as mayor was attending aHolocaust memorial ceremony at a rugby stadium in North London,[84] although due to delays in the election count, he officially took office on 9 May.[85]
2016 candidacy
Nomination as Labour candidate
"An affordable and secure home to rent or buy, more jobs with higher wages for the lowest paid, making it easier to set up and run a successful business, reducing the cost of commuting, and making London's environment safer, healthier and less polluted."
After Labour's defeat at the2015 general election, Khan resigned from the Shadow Cabinet.[87] He then announced himself as a candidate to be the Labour nominee for theLondon Mayoral elections of 2016.[87] Khan soon gained the support of prominent figures in the party, including former Mayor of LondonKen Livingstone, who was on Labour's leftist, socialist wing, andOona King, who was on its centrist,Blairite wing.[88] He also received the backing of the Labour-affiliatedGMB andUnite unions,[89] and the nomination of 44 of Labour's 73 parliamentary constituent parties in London, leaving him as one of the top two contenders.[89]
Khan's main rival was Conservative candidateZac Goldsmith; Khan described him as a spoiled dilettante who "never finishes anything he starts".[90] AYouGov poll forLBC suggested that while the other main contender to be the Labour nominee,Tessa Jowell, would defeat Goldsmith in a mayoral election, Khan would not.[91] In hustings, Khan placed an emphasis on his working-class origins, which would play against Jowell's wealthier upbringing, and argued for the need for change in London, thereby insinuating that Jowell would represent too much continuity with the outgoing Johnson administration.[92] In September 2015, Khan was announced as the winning nominee.[93] He gained 48,152 votes (58.9%) against Jowell's 35,573 (41.1%).[93][94] He was the favourite candidate in all three voting categories; Labour Party members, members of affiliated trade unions and organisations, and registered supporters who had paid £3 in order to vote.[95]
Campaign
Khan vowed that if elected, he would freeze public transport fares in London for four years.[90][96] He claimed that this would depriveTransport for London (TfL) of £452 million, but TfL stated that it would deprive them of £1.9 billion, taking into account projected population growth over this period.[97][98] Although he had previously backed Heathrow expansion, he now opposed it, instead calling for expansion atGatwick Airport.[99] He spoke of clamping down on foreign property investors,[100] and proposed the establishment of both a "London living rent" tenure and a not-for-profit lettings agency that could undercut commercial operators in order to ease the high cost of renting in the city.[101] He also called for house building on land owned by TfL, insisting that at least 50% of those constructed should be "genuinely affordable".[102]
A YouGov poll found that 31% of Londoners stated that they would not be "comfortable" with a Muslim mayor.[91] He declared his opposition tohomophobia,[103] and said that he would have "zero tolerance for anti-Semitism".[104] He openly condemned Islamic extremism and called on the Muslim community to take a leading role in combating it, although at the same time acknowledged theIslamophobia that many British Muslims faced.[105] Khan declared that he would be "the most pro-business mayor ever",[106] and met with groups such as theFederation of Small Businesses andCity of London Corporation.[107] Goldsmith's Conservative campaign emphasised connections between Khan and then Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn.[108][109] Both the Conservative campaign and several Conservative-aligned newspapers were accused of tarring Khan as an apologist for, or even sympathiser with, Islamic extremism.[110][111]
International press sources often focused on his religious identity,[112] with many right-wing American media outlets reacting with horror at his election.[113]
Map of Greater London boroughs showing those that voted for Khan (red) and Goldsmith (blue) in the 2016 mayoral election
Khan won the election with 57% of the vote. The 1.3 million votes he received are the largest any UK politician has personally received to date.[114] Various press sources noted that Khan's election made him the first actively affiliated Muslim to become mayor of a major Western capital.[115][83]
Following Khan's re-election into second term, there had been speculation as to whether he would run for a third term, or instead seek election to theHouse of Commons in hope of becomingleader of the Labour Party. Khan stated that he would run for a third term.[119][120] In the2024 London mayoral election Khan was re-elected, defeating the Conservative candidateSusan Hall and making him the first to be elected to serve three terms as the Mayor of London.[121][122]
Mayoralty
Khan and U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry at London City Hall, October 2016
In August 2016, Khan declared his support forOwen Smith's failed bid to oustJeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party. Although describing him as a "principled Labour man", Khan said that Corbyn had failed to gain popularity with the electorate and that Labour would not win a general election under Corbyn's leadership.[123]
On 8 January 2021, Khan announced a planned council tax rise of 9.5% to help fund policing and free transport for pensioners and schoolchildren in London. Khan's proposal would see an overall increase of 9.5% or £31.59 a year for an average Band Dcouncil tax payer. Since his first budget in 2017–18, Khan has increased theGreater London Authority's council tax precept by 31%, from £280 a year to £363.66 a year for a Band D property.[124] On the same day, Khan also ordered London residents to cease travelling after he declared the COVID-19 crisis in London a "major incident" with "out of control" spread, as infection rates for London were estimated to be around 1 in 30, with highs of 1 in 20 in some parts of the city.[125]
European Union and Brexit
In the buildup to thereferendum on the UK's continuing membership of theEuropean Union (EU), Khan was a vocal supporter of the "Remain" camp.[126] He agreed to attend aBritain Stronger in Europe campaign event with the Conservative Prime MinisterDavid Cameron to demonstrate cross-party support for remaining within the EU,[127][128] for which he was criticised by Labour Shadow ChancellorJohn McDonnell, who claimed that sharing a platform with the Conservatives "discredits us".[129] After the murder of MPJo Cox during the campaign, Khan called for the country to "pause and reflect" on the manner in which the Leave and Remain camps had been approaching the debate, stating that it had been marred by a "climate of hatred, of poison, of negativity, of cynicism".[130] Following the success of the "Leave" vote, Khan insisted that all EU citizens living in London were welcome in the city and that he was grateful for the contribution that they made to it.[131][132] He endorsed the Metropolitan Police's "We Stand Together" campaign to combat the rise in racial abuse following the referendum,[133] and later backed the "London is Open" campaign to encourage businesses, artists, and performers to continue coming to the city despite Brexit.[134]
On 20 October 2018, Khan marched withPeople's Vote protesters fromPark Lane toParliament Square in support of a referendum on the final Brexit deal.[135] The march was started by Khan and featured speeches byDelia Smith andSteve Coogan.[136] The organisers of the march said that almost 700,000 people took part. Police stated that they were unable to estimate the numbers involved[137][136][138] and a later police debriefing document prepared by Khan'sGreater London Authority estimated the number to be 250,000.[139]
In January 2023, Khan said that he couldn't ignore the immense damage caused by Brexit, arguing for a more sensible approach to mitigate the damage, including a debate on rejoining thesingle market.[143] He also believed that Brexit had "weakened our economy, fractured our union and diminished our reputation. But, crucially, not beyond repair."[144]
In April 2024, Khan called for the UK to establish a youth mobility scheme with the European Union. He argued that such a scheme would benefit young people and the economy, and emphasised the distinction between youth mobility and the free movement of people within the single market.[145]
Diversity issues
Khan atPride in London, July 2017Khan speaks at an Eid event at 10 Downing Street in April 2025
While fasting for the Islamic holy month ofRamadan in 2016, Khan declared that he would use the period as an opportunity to help "break down the mystique and suspicion" surrounding Islam in Britain and help to "get out there and build bridges" between communities, organisingiftars to be held at synagogues, churches, and mosques.[146][147] He then appeared at aTrafalgar Square celebration ofEid al-Fitr, endorsingreligious freedom and lambasting "criminals who do bad things and use the name of Islam to justify what they do".[148] Following the 2016Orlando nightclub shooting, Khan attended a vigil inOld Compton Street,Soho, and insisted that he "will do everything in [his] power to ensure that LGBT Londoners feel safe in every part of our city";[149] later that month he marched in the LGBTPride London parade.[150]
Khan has made significant reforms on transport.[165][166] He immediately announced the introduction of a "Hopper" bus ticket which would allow a passenger to take two bus and tram journeys within an hour for the price of one; it was intended to benefit those on low incomes most.[167][168] In January 2018, this system was upgraded to offer unlimited journeys and allowing travel on Tube or rail services in between.[169] In June 2016, Khan announced that his electoral pledge to prevent transport fare rises would only apply to "single fares" andpay as you go fares, and not daily, monthly, weekly, or yearly railcards; he was widely criticised for this.[170][171] That same month, he ordered TfL to ban any advertising on its network that was deemed tobody shame or demean women.[172] In July he urged the government to allow TfL to take control of the failingSouthern rail service,[173][174] and in August launched the 24-hourNight Tube service on Fridays and Saturdays, an idea initially proposed by Johnson.[175]
Khan backed expansion ofLondon City Airport, removing the block on this instituted by Johnson's administration; environmentalist campaigners likeSiân Berry stated that this was a breach of Khan's pledge to be London's "greenest ever" mayor.[176]Opposing expansion atHeathrow Airport, he urged Prime MinisterTheresa May to instead support expansion atGatwick Airport, stating that to do so would bring "substantial economic benefits" to London.[177]
In August 2020, Khan announced thatCrossrail, a project to create the newElizabeth line east–west rail link through the centre of London, had been delayed again until 2022, requiring an additional £1.1 billion in funding to complete the project.[178] The line was originally due to open in 2018.[179]
Khan supported theSutton LinkTramLink, a tram extension project that is part of hisLondon Plan for 2021. However, the project is on hold since 2020 due toCOVID-19 funding issues and has been challenged by Conservative MPPaul Scully for imposing theULEZ charge on Sutton residents without better transport alternatives.[180][181]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Khan was criticised by Health SecretaryMatt Hancock for closing stations and reducing services on the tube network, which Hancock believed would result in overcrowding and put key workers travelling to work at risk.[182] On 17 March 2020 Khan announced theLondon Underground would begin running a reduced service due to the virus.[183] Khan shut down theWaterloo & City line, several tube stations and theNight Tube.[184] From 20 March 40 tube stations were closed.[184]
Khan was the first British political leader to call forface masks to be worn in public in April 2020.[185] On 22 April, Khan warned that TfL could run out of money to pay staff by the end of April unlessBoris Johnson's government stepped in.[186] Two days later, TfL announced it was furloughing around 7,000 employees, about a quarter of its staff, to help mitigate a 90% reduction in fare revenues.[187]
On 7 May,Transport for London, the capital's transport authority which Khan chairs, requested a £2 billion government bail-out to keep services running until September 2020.[188] Without an agreement with the government, deputy mayor for transportHeidi Alexander said TfL might have to issue a "Section 114 notice" – the equivalent of a public body going bust.[189] On 14 May, Khan and UK Government agreed a £1.6 billion emergency funding package to keep Tube and bus services running. To achieve the bailout package, Khan had to raise TfL fares by 1% above inflation, which went against a pledge he made during his mayoral election campaign to not increase fares.[190] Transport SecretaryGrant Shapps MP blamed Khan for the "poor condition of TfL's financial position" during his four years as Mayor.[191]
From 22 June 2020, Khan has implemented an increase in theLondon Congestion Charge to £15 a day, from £11.50. Its hours of operation have also been extended to 7am–10pm every day, including weekends.[192] Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers, police officers, firefighters and transport workers are also included in the charge, despite a campaign by theMetropolitan Police Federation to exempt them.[193]
Khan began discussing with local leaders plans for further restrictions in London in late September 2020, and delivered a plan to the central government to introduce measures to curb the worsening outbreak[194][195] and called for a "circuit-breaker lockdown" of London on 13 October 2020, citing advice fromSAGE.[196] The plan was not used; a second national lockdown was not introduced until 31 October. He declared a "major incident" due to a need for emergency coordination to mitigate the major strain on London's healthcare system in January 2021.[197]
According to polling in March 2021, 42% of Londoners agreed that Khan had handled COVID-19 "well", and 39% "badly".[198]
In July 2021, Khan maintained aface mask requirement on London transport, despite thegovernment removing the requirement nationwide, citing the risk of virus transmission.[199] He later expressed frustration at the subsequent fall in compliance and TfL staff's inability to enforce these rules, and said he would lobby the government to introduce legal backing for the rule.[200]
Housing policies
In his first weeks as Mayor, Khan criticised foreign investors for treating homes in London as "gold bricks for investment", instead urging them to invest in the construction of "affordable homes" for Londoners through a new agency, Homes for Londoners, which would be funded by both public and private money.[201] Homes for Londoners is governed by a board and chaired by Khan.
However, in contrast to one of his pre-election statements, he revealed that he no longer supported rent freezes in the city.[202] By 2022, Khan had reverted to supporting rent freezes.[203]
Khan vetoed the construction of a football stadium and two blocks of flats on Green Belt land inChislehurst, after the plan had already been supported byBromley Council, insisting that he would "oppose building on the Green Belt, which is now even more important than when it was created".[204]
Khan launched a "No Nights Sleeping Rough" taskforce to tackle youth homelessness in London in October 2016.[205]
Air pollution
Khan has calledair pollution "the biggest public health emergency of a generation."[206] In October 2017, he introduced theToxicity Charge (T-charge); operating within the same hours and zone as theLondon congestion charge, the T-Charge levied a £10 fine on top of that for older and more polluting vehicles (typically diesel and petrol ones registered before 2006) that do not meetEuro 4 standards.[207] In that same year, he announced plans to establish a replacement: an "Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)" that would charge owners of the most polluting cars a fine of £12.50 per day on top of the congestion charge.[208] The all day, every day (except on Christmas Day)[209] zone was introduced in 2019 in Central London, extended to the North and South Circulars in 2021,[208] and was extended to the whole of Greater London in August 2023.[210] The charge applies to diesel cars and vans whose engines aren't at the latestEuro 6 standard as well as most petrol cars pre-2005; in addition, non-compliant buses, coaches and lorries must pay £100.[211] The initial zone resulted in a drop of the worst polluting vehicles entering the zone each day from 35,578 in March 2019 to 26,195 in April after the charge was introduced.[212]
Khan criticised the UK government in June 2017 for its lack of drive in improving general air quality.[213] He stated that the government's action plan on the issue lacked "serious detail, fails to tackle all emission sources, such as from buildings, construction or the river, and does not utilise the government's full resources and powers", reflecting its low prioritisation of the issue in the past.[213]
In September, he announced that the first 50 air quality audits for primary schools in the worst-polluted areas of the city had been launched with the objective to reduce air pollution around a steadily increasing number of schools.[214] The audits will continue until the end of 2017, with reports being published in 2018.[206][214]
Khan overseeing the construction of theSilvertown Tunnel, a tunnel under the Thames in Greenwich, which his office claims is needed to relieve traffic congestion. However, environmentalists say it will induce more demand and lead to worsening air quality and car dependency, leading the Green Party, Liberal Democrats, some Conservatives, and even some Labour MPs and mayors to come out against the project. In July 2021, the London Labour regional conference called for the tunnel to be scrapped, by 74% to 26%.[215] The tunnel opened in April 2025.[216]
Crime and policing
Since Khan became Mayor, overallcrime rates in London increased in every reporting year to 2020, before falling dramatically during theCOVID-19 pandemic,[217] and then slowly returning to 2019 levels by 2024.[218][non-primary source needed][unreliable source?] In 2018, London was reported to be "experiencing an upsurge in serious violent crime, particularly among teenagers and young men, although it is not at the levels seen in the mid-2000s".[219] In figures released by theOffice for National Statistics (ONS), crime in London was five times higher than the rest of the United Kingdom in 2019.[220] A report that London crime had risen five times faster than the rest of the country since Sadiq Khan became Mayor in 2016 was debunked[221] by the independent fact checkerFull Fact.[222]
These trends largely follow national ones. In 2024, theCrime Survey for England and Wales shows that “someone is actually less likely to be a victim of crime in London than they are across the country as a whole.”[223]
Killings using a blade saw a 28 per cent increase from 67 in 2018 to 86 in 2019.[220] There was 54% increase inknife crime from 9,086 in the year ended 31 March 2016, just before Khan was elected Mayor, to 14,000 in the year ended 30 September 2023.[224] London's murder rate reached a ten-year high in 2019. TheMetropolitan police recorded 149homicides that year. In five years the homicide rate had increased by more than 50%, from 94 cases in 2014. The reasons cited were drugs,austerity and a nationwide rise in violence.[225] The murder rate, lower than in most rural areas of the UK, fell dramatically after 2020.[223] Gun crime in the capital dropped under Khan, reaching a low in 2024, with gun crime rates far higher in urban areas of the UK outside London.[223]
Antisocial behaviour peaked in 2019 before falling; it was less common on 2024 than elsewhere in the UK.[223]
In an interview withLBC, Khan accepted responsibility for rising crime in London as thePolice and Crime Commissioner for the city, but blamed budgetary cuts by the UKConservative Government.[217] Khan stated that knife crime is "rising at an unacceptably high rate" across London, England, and Wales, and that it is "clearly a national problem that requires national solutions."[226] Following the2019 London Bridge stabbing Khan stated, "You can't disaggregate terrorism and security from cuts made to resources of the police, of probation, the tools that judges have … The key thing is we need to support the police and security service. (...) The point I am making is we can be safer, with more police and more resources."[227]
Email abuse
In February 2025, a man was jailed for 28 weeks and made subject to a restraining order after pleading guilty to sending malicious emails to Khan,Jess Phillips, and a senior officer in the Metropolitan police.[228]
Political image and views
Writing forThe Spectator, the political commentatorNick Cohen described Khan as a centre-left social democrat,[229] while the journalistAmol Rajan termed him "a torch-bearer for the social democratic wing" of the Labour Party.[230] The BBC describe Khan as being located on the party'ssoft left.[231] In an article forAl Jazeera, theMarxist commentatorRichard Seymour described Khan as a centrist,[232] while Matt Wrack, the General Secretary of theFire Brigades Union, characterised Khan as belonging to "that part of the Labour Party that was in government under Blair and Brown".[233] The journalist Dave Hill described Khan as asocial liberal.[234]
Khan at a 2019Eid al-Fitr event in Trafalgar Square, London
Khan quotes from theQuran andhadith when discussing terrorism.[55] He received death threats from Islamic extremists after voting in favour of theMarriage (Same Sex Couples) Act.[239][240] He was also threatened by the far-right groupBritain First, which in 2016 threatened to take "direct action" against Khan where he "lives, works and prays" as part of an anti-Muslim campaign.[241]
In 2009, Khan referred to moderate Muslims as "Uncle Toms", a derogatory label for a person of an oppressed minority who betrays them to benefit from their oppressors.[242] In 2016, Khan said "I regret using the phrase...and I am sorry."[243]
Journalist Dave Hill has said that Khan was "savvy, streetwise and not averse to a scrap",[244] whilst also describing him as having a "joshing, livewire off-stage personality" which differed from the formal image he often projected while onstage.[245] Khan used to perform comedy before running for Mayor, including a ten-minute money-raisingStand Up for Labour routine. ComedianArthur Smith stated that Khan could become a "good club-level comedian one day".[246] During the 2016 Mayoral campaign, Goldsmith referred to Khan as "a caricature machine politician... the sort of politician who justified peoples' mistrust in politics", as evidence citing Khan's U-turn on supporting Heathrow expansion.[247] Another rival in the 2016 Mayoral campaign,George Galloway of theRespect Party, referred to Khan as a "flip-flop merchant" and a "product of the Blairite machine".[248]
There has been an ongoing political feud between Khan and former US presidentDonald Trump since 2016, when Khan criticised Trump over his proposed "Muslim ban" and Trump responded by attacking Khan a number of times on Twitter over the next several years.[249] Shortly before Trump's 2019 state visit to the UK, Khan compared Trump to "European dictators of the 1930s and 40s".[250] Upon arrival, Trump responded on Twitter by calling him a "stone-cold loser" and compared him to another mayor he also targeted,Bill de Blasio.[251] On 9 June 2020, Khan said that he believed some statues of slavers in London "should be taken down",[155] and established theCommission for Diversity in the Public Realm to do so.[156][157]
On 13 October 2023, during theGaza war, Khan urged Israel to exercise restraint, arguing that ablockade of the Gaza Strip could lead to "suffering" among Palestinian civilians.[252] On 27 October 2023, he further called for a ceasefire.[253] He was criticised by Jewish figures, including the UKChief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who stated that "a ceasefire now would be an irresponsible stepping stone to yet more Hamas terrorist brutality". In a later interview withMehdi Hasan, Khan appeared to suggest that the Chief Rabbi's criticisms of him had an Islamophobic motive. Khan stated: "I'd ask those Jewish people to just pause and reflect on their response to me calling for a ceasefire ... what motivated them to come out in the way they did against the Mayor of London, and the Mayor of Greater Manchester – I'll give you a clue, he's not called 'Ahmed Bourani', he's called Andy Burnham, whereas I'm called Sadiq Khan." Khan apologised for the remarks a day after the footage was released, stating: "At times it is clear to me, and others, that as a mayor of London of Islamic faith, I am held to a different standard and that can be frustrating – particularly during a divisive election campaign. But, it wasn't fair of me to have levelled that frustration at the Chief Rabbi."[254][255]
In October 2025, Khan sparked controversy for suggesting that the chant "from the river to the sea" atpro-Palestinian marches, which critics saycalls for the destruction of the Jewish state, was not inherentlyantisemitic.[256][257][258] He was criticized by shadow home secretaryChris Philp, who said: "Calling for the complete destruction of Israel, a state established with UN approval, is a hateful and extremist message". Shadow community secretaryJames Cleverly added that the slogan "calls for wiping the world’s only Jewish state from the map […] Sadiq Khan has once again let the capital’s Jewish community down". Labour Against Anti-Semitism co-director Alex Hearn stated: "For two years, Sadiq Khan's London has been the scene of marches which have given a platform for virulent anti-Jewish racism and threatened the peace and safety of the Jewish community," adding that "listening to Jewish voices calling out this hateful chant would be a good place for him to start to undo the damage."[256][257]
Khan was nominated for the Politician of the Year Award at theBritish Muslim Awards in January 2013 and 2015 and won the award in February 2016.[260][261] In late 2016 and 2017, Khan won and accepted the BritishGQ's Politician of the Year Award.[262] In 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Law.[263] In 2018, Khan was conferredSitara-e-Pakistan for his services to Pakistan by the Pakistani PresidentMamnoon Hussain.[264] In 2018, he became an Honorary Fellow of theRoyal Institute of British Architects.[265] Khan was included in the 2018Time 100 list of most influential people in the world.[266]
In 2019, Khan became an Honorary Bencher of theMiddle Temple.[267] In 2024, Khan won and accepted the Local Government Award at EPG's Political and Public awards at theHouse of Commons.[268] Khan wasknighted in the2025 New Year Honours for political and public service.[269] He is the first and only mayor of London to be awarded knighthood.
Personal life
Khan is a practisingMuslim who observes the fast duringRamadan and regularly attends Al-Muzzammil Mosque in Tooting.[270][271][272][239][271] Journalist Dave Hill described him as "a moderate, socially liberal Muslim".[148] Khan has expressed the view that "too often the people who are 'representing' the Islamic faith aren't representative, they're angry men with beards. And that is not what Islam is about."[103]
Khan married Saadiya Ahmed, a fellow solicitor, in 1994. They have two daughters,[3] both raised in the Islamic faith.[273] He is a supporter ofLiverpool F.C.[274]
^Jamal, Sana (1 November 2018)."London Mayor Sadiq Khan arrives in Lahore".Gulf News: Latest UAE news, Dubai news, Business, travel news, Dubai Gold rate, prayer time, cinema. Retrieved20 October 2025.
^"Sadiq Khan Vows To Be 'Mayor For All Londoners'". Sky News. 7 May 2016.Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved9 May 2016.But because of the processes involved, he won't be technically in office until just after midnight on Monday.
^Helm, Toby; Savage, Michael; Courea, Eleni (20 October 2018)."Almost 700,000 march to demand 'people's vote' on Brexit deal".The Observer. Retrieved21 October 2018.The centre of London ground to a halt as an estimated 700,000 people from all over the UK marched peacefully on parliament to demand a second referendum on Brexit.
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