10 May 2021
London elections 2021
Labour’s Sadiq Khan has won a second term as London’s mayor, beating Conservative rival Shaun Bailey. He won 55.2% of the popular vote, after entering a run-off with Mr Bailey when neither managed to secure a majority in the first round of voting.
The former MP became the first Muslim mayor of an EU capital city when he was elected to the role in 2016.
Speaking at City Hall, he promised “to strain every sinew to help build a better, brighter future for London”.
The Green Party’s Sian Berry came third, while the Liberal Democrats’ Luisa Porritt was fourth.
The Lib Dems lost their deposit, as Ms Porritt failed to win more than 5% of the vote.
Sadiq Khan: ‘I never wanted to be a culture war poster boy’ Mr Khan was seen as the favourite throughout the campaign, with some pollsters predicting he would win more than half of the first-round votes.
The 51-year-old failed to reach his record-setting vote total of 2016, but won with a 228,000-vote majority.
Mr Khan’s closest rival was Mr Bailey, who received 44.8% of the first and second-round votes, and increased the Conservative vote share by 1.6%.
Mr Khan continued: “Economic inequality is getting worse both within London and in different parts of our country.
“As we seek to confront the enormity of the challenge ahead, and as we endeavour to rebuild from this pandemic, we must use this moment of national recovery to heal those damaging divisions.”
IMAGE COPYRIGHTPA MEDIA
Caption Sadiq Khan won 69% of second-preference votes