LONDON: Labour’s Sadiq Khan has swept to victory in the London mayoral election, winning a historic third term in power, as Sir Keir Starmer’s party continues to count gains in the local elections.
Incumbent mayor Mr Khan beat his nearest rival, Conservative candidate Susan Hall, in a contest dominated by criticisms of his decision to expand London’s ultra low emission zone.
Sadiq Khan secured just over 1,088,000 votes to be re-elected London Mayor, a majority of some 275,000 over Conservative rival Susan Hall, who secured just under 813,000 votes.
Sir Keir had signalled he was confident of Mr Khan’s victory before declarations commenced, as he counted mayoral victories for his party in Liverpool, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and in Greater Manchester where Andy Burnham returned to power.
In a fresh challenge to the Prime Minister to call an election, Sir Keir said: “Fourteen years and, I am sorry, I don’t care which political party you support, if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government for a moment longer.”
Mr Khan needed to win a simple majority of ballots cast, as the rules for the mayoral race were changed to a first-past-the-post voting system ahead of the latest election.
Rishi Sunak is meanwhile braced for the West Midlands mayoral election result, hoping incumbent Andy Street could hold on to power for the Conservatives.
A partial “bundle” recount has been ordered in Birmingham for the election of the West Midlands mayor.
As piles of ballot papers were moved onto desks nearer the stage at the International Convention Centre, an official announcement said a bundle check would take place. The announcer told party activists to ensure counting agents were available to supervise and observe the checks. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has said Britain “desperately needs a new Government and a fresh start” after he was re-elected as Greater Manchester Mayor.
He said: “Britain desperately needs a new Government and a fresh start and from here, we will work hard to bring that change about.” Mr Burnham said the “Westminster one size fits all approach” has not worked for parents in Harpurhey, “trapped in debt because of the pernicious combination of the housing and the benefit system” or for communities “suffering the after effects of youth violence and struggling to make sense of it”.
He added: “And the truth is this. If you have an education system overly focused on the university route, you will leave some young people growing up without hope. If you have a benefit system overly focused on sanctions rather than support, you will end up with a growing mental health crisis.
“And if housing policy is exclusively focused on promoting homeownership, you will leave millions trapped in a housing crisis. Greater Manchester is ready to break out of this. Devolution in England is working and these elections show voters are buying into it, but it is time now to go much further.
“My new mission will be to give everyone growing up here an equal alternative to the university route. So all our young people have a path in life and hope in their heart. And my new plea to Westminster is to give us the powers to free ourselves from the grip of the housing crisis and let us build a benefit system that helps people move forward rather than holds them back.”
Labour’s Richard Parker gained some ground back on Tory rival Andy Street in Wolverhampton after a so-called bundle recount.