SADIQ KHAN WINS SECOND TERM AS LONDON MAYOR

Sun 09 May 2021:

Sadiq Khan has been elected as mayor of London for a second term, following a victory that was less emphatic than predicted after a late increase in support for his Conservative opponent.

He was expected to win by a landslide but the result was much closer than expected.

Khan won 1,206,034 votes, 55.2%. Rival Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey won 977,601 votes, or 44.8%. Turnout was 42.2%.

His victory comes as votes continue to be counted elsewhere after polls were held earlier this week.

The “Super Thursday” elections were for local councils across the UK as well as Welsh and Scottish parliamentary elections, mayoral elections in England, and the by-election in Hartlepool.

In his victory speech on Saturday night, Khan pledged to build a “better and brighter future” for the capital following the pandemic. “I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

“I am deeply humbled by the trust Londoners have placed in me to continue leading the greatest city on Earth.

“I promise to strain every sinew, help build a better and brighter future for London, after the dark days of the pandemic and to create a greener, fairer and safer city for all Londoners, to get the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential.

“I am proud to have won an overwhelming mandate today.”

The elections have proved difficult for the main opposition, the center-left Labour Party that has lost seats to the incumbent center-right Conservative Party.

Khan was first elected mayor of the capital in 2016 in a landslide victory, breaking the Conservatives’ eight-year hold on City Hall.

Thank you London. It’s the absolute honour of my life to serve the city I love for another three years.

I’ll leave no stone unturned to get our city back on its feet.

A brighter future is possible, and we’ll deliver it together. pic.twitter.com/kwA1awEten

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 8, 2021

Mixed mayoral results for Labour

Meanwhile, Labour’s Andy Burnham won re-election as Greater Manchester mayor. He took an impressive 69% of the vote.

Burnham previously ran for Labour Party leader in 2010 and 2015 but lost on both occasions.

His dominant performance in Thursday’s election amid wider Labour difficulties have reignited discussion about him standing again in the future.

“In the distant future, if the party were ever to feel it needed me, well I’m here and they should get in touch,” he told Sky News.

But he played down expectations of any leadership bid in the near future. “I’ve got the best job in the world in the best city region in the world,” he said.

In Liverpool, Steve Rotheram was re-elected as Liverpool City Region mayor with 58% of the vote.

In the West Midlands, Conservative incumbent Andy Street won re-election as mayor in a part of England that Labour was hoping to make gain.

Labour’s Joanne Anderson was elected Liverpool city mayor on Friday, becoming the first black woman to lead a major British city. She won 59% of the vote.

The Conservative incumbent in the northern Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, also won re-election as mayor with 73% of the vote, which was another blow to Labour in a part of England that was considered their heartland.

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