Sadiq Khan, 53, is the son of Pakistani immigrants and he is a Muslim. The mayor of London is a relatively new job. The first mayor of London was elected in 2000. Before then the British capital’s number one citizen was the leader of the Greater London Council, or GLC. Sadiq Khan is London’s third mayor. His two predecessors were certainly colourful characters. The first London mayor was Ken Livingstone, a left-wing Labour Party politician whose nickname was Red Ken. In 2008 another eccentric, the Conservative Boris Johnson, succeeded him.
Sadiq Khan is probably a less colourful character, and this is a good thing. Like Ken Livingstone, he is a member of the Labour Party, but he is more moderate. He grew up in South London, in the district of Tooting. His father was a bus driver. Khan went to a local state comprehensive. He wanted to become dentist but a teacher suggested he became a lawyer, because he was argumentative. After studying law at university he worked as a solicitor before entering politics. He later became the Member of Parliament for Tooting.
Khan certainly faces many challenges as mayor. London has become a city of the rich. In his manifesto Khan said that the housing crisis was his “first priority.” He also said: “London is the greatest city in the world. But we are at a crossroads.”