The great city of London has a mayor who is Muslim and Labour
On Thursday, I voted for a Hindu Navin Shah for the London Assembly and for a Muslim Sadiq Khan to be the London mayor. Of course, I voted for them because they were the Labour candidates, not because of their religion or ethnicity, but I was proud that my political party is so diverse in its candidates. The turnout was 45%, up 7% on four years ago, which is healthy for our democracy.
Labour won the Assemby election with 12 seats out of 25. And Sadiq Khan won the mayoralty, gaining – after second preferences came into play – 56.8% of the vote compared to Conservative Zac Goldsmith’s tally of 43.2%. In absolute numbers, Khan won 1,310,143 votes – the largest personal mandate of any politician in UK history.
I am so proud of Khan for fighting such an effective and decent campaign; I am so proud of my city for choosing a Muslim mayor; I am so proud to be part of this democratic process.
You can read a fascinating profile of Sadiq Khan here.