Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan
Khan in 2020
Mayor of London
Assumed office
9 May 2016
DeputyJoanne McCartney
Preceded byBoris Johnson
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Shadow Lord Chancellor
In office
8 October 2010 – 11 May 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byJack Straw
Succeeded byThe Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Shadow Minister for London
In office
16 January 2013 – 11 May 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byTessa Jowell
Succeeded byVacant
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
In office
12 May 2010 – 8 October 2010
LeaderHarriet Harman (Acting)
Ed Miliband
Preceded byTheresa Villiers
Succeeded byMaria Eagle
Ministerial offices
Minister of State for Transport
In office
9 June 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded byThe Lord Adonis
Succeeded byTheresa Villiers
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In office
5 October 2008 – 9 June 2009
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded byParmjit Dhanda
Succeeded byShahid Malik
Member of Parliament
for Tooting
In office
5 May 2005 – 9 May 2016
Preceded byTom Cox
Succeeded byRosena Allin-Khan
Personal details
Born
Sadiq Aman Khan

(1970-10-08) 8 October 1970 (age 53)
Tooting, London, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Saadiya Ahmed
(m. 1994)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of North London
University of Law
AwardsSitara-e-Imtiaz (2018)
Signature
Websitesadiq.london

Sadiq Aman Khan Hon FRIBA (/ˈsɑːdɪk ˈkɑːn/,[1] pronunciation; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's soft left and has been ideologically characterised as a social democrat.

Born in Tooting, South London, to a British Pakistani family, Khan earned a law degree from the University of North London. He subsequently worked as a solicitor specialising in human rights issues and chaired the Liberty advocacy group for three years. Joining the Labour Party, Khan was a councillor for the London Borough of Wandsworth from 1994 to 2006 before being elected MP for Tooting at the 2005 general election. He was openly critical of several policies of Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq and new anti-terror legislation. Under Blair's successor Gordon Brown, Khan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in 2008, later becoming Minister of State for Transport. A key ally of the next Labour leader, Ed Miliband, he served in Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Minister for London.

Khan was elected Mayor of London at the 2016 mayoral election, defeating the Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith, and resigned as an MP. As Mayor, he implemented the Hopper fare for unlimited bus and tram journeys for an hour, increased the cost and the area covered by the London congestion charge, and introduced new charges (the T-Charge and the ULEZ) for older and more polluting vehicles driving in the city. He also backed expansion at London City Airport and Gatwick Airport. He was a vocal supporter of the unsuccessful Britain Stronger in Europe and People's Vote campaigns for the UK to remain in the European Union, and attracted international attention for his Twitter arguments with United States President Donald Trump. Khan established the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm following the 2020 George Floyd protests. Although Khan initially froze some Transport for London (TfL) fares, he has implemented transport fare rises since 2021 in return for a £1.6 billion bailout from the UK Government during the COVID-19 pandemic, and also lobbied the government to introduce public health restrictions on several occasions throughout the pandemic. He was re-elected as Mayor in May 2021.

He was included in the 2018 Time 100 list of most influential people in the world.[2] Khan has been praised for making London's transport more accessible and reducing the number of polluting vehicles in central London.[3][4] He has been criticised for the rising levels of gun and knife crimes in the city, along with his response to crime in general.[5]

  1. ^ Lydall, Ross (11 September 2019). "Sadiq Khan says his name should be pronounced as 'Saad-ick', not 'Sad-eek'". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Sadiq Khan: The World's 100 Most Influential People". Time 100. Time. 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  3. ^ Rogers, Alexandra (17 September 2019). "Sadiq Khan's Ulez charge cuts polluting vehicles by over a third and bags TfL £51m". CityAM. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  4. ^ Bayley, Sian (23 July 2019). "London pollution: High levels detected by 40% of capital's air quality sensors". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  5. ^ "London mayor accepts responsibility for crime situation as he blames police cuts". Jersey Evening Post. 7 June 2018.

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