Sadiq Khan has secured his position as London’s mayor, triumphing for a record-breaking third term in a closely-fought battle. The results, revealed on Saturday afternoon, declared Mr Khan as the victor over Susan Hall, his Conservative opponent.
The race for the mayor’s office was framed as a tight contest by Khan, even as polls put him 25 points ahead of his Tory competitor. Speculated as an attempt to galvanise Labour diehards and indifferent London citizens to vote, his strategy seemed to pay off.
The body responsible for overseeing the mayoral and London assembly elections, London Elects, reported that voter participation was a mere 1.5% lower than in 2021, at 40.5%. Constituencies of Bexley and Bromley, both Conservative strongholds, achieved the highest turnout at 48%.
Encouragement swelled within Khan’s squad after securing North East and West Central constituencies from the Tories, fuelling their certainty of victory even before the final outcome. Friday night was fraught with tension, with a hold on vote counting granting zealous Conservative campaigners the chance to dominate social media with rumours of a considerable challenge from Ms Hall.
This election marked the first time voters were impacted by alterations in the voting system brought in by the Tories, including a first-past-the-post system and the compulsion of photo ID at polling stations. Both modifications were anticipated to detrimentally affect Labour’s vote count.
Reflecting on the election, figures within the Labour party conceded that their position on Gaza had led to a decrease in local support in regions like Oldham, Pendle and Bolton. This prompted some to predict a possible backlash from London’s electorates, despite Khan’s plea for immediate truce.
Campaigners voiced concerns that city dwellers in London felt that Labour had become complacent with its core voting base as Keir Starmer took pleasure from impressive victories in Blackpool, Hartlepool and Thurrock on Friday.
A Tory MP from London declared that Hall’s approach was overly reliant on promoting dissension against Khan and lacked a clear vision of her own ideas and potential contributions.
Following several successful campaigns in the northern mayoral elections for Labour, the outcomes were declared on Saturday. In the Liverpool mayoral contest, Steve Rotheram emerged victorious, while in Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham secured his position once again. In West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin retained her mayoral seat for another term. – Guardian service.