Labour’s Sadiq Khan was re-elected as Mayor of London. He defended the mandate for the third time in a row, which no one else has managed to do, the BBC News server reported. According to official election results, he won almost 44 percent of the vote, defeating his Conservative opponent Susan Hall.
In 2016, Khan became the first Muslim ever to head a Western capital. He received just over a million votes, or nearly 44 percent, and edged Hall by more than 11 percentage points. It did particularly well in inner London, but struggled in several fringe boroughs.
Speculation was rife on Friday that the result would be closer than originally thought. But Khan’s lead showed a conservative-to-Labor swing compared to the previous election in 2021, according to the AP.
Thanks to today’s result, the 53-year-old son of Pakistani immigrants overtook his predecessor and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who served two terms.
Millions of English people voted on Thursday in local elections, the last regular vote for most of the UK before the general election. The ruling Conservative Party was preparing for significant losses, which will likely further weaken the position of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
London and the British Election:
The English elected over 2,500 members of municipal councils. Around 17:00 CET today, the left-wing opposition had secured 1,140 seats, improving by 185 seats compared to the last election. The conservatives, on the other hand, lost 473 seats and have so far won only 513 elected representatives. Liberal Democrats with 521 seats and independent candidates with 228 seats also improved.
