Labour Party's Sadiq Khan wins record 3rd term as London mayor

Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party's mayor of London, romped to victory Saturday, securing a record third straight term at City Hall, on another hugely disappointing day for the UK's governing Conservatives ahead of a looming general election, report agencies.

Khan won a little over a million votes, or nearly 44% of the vote, more than 11 percentage points ahead of his main challenger, the Conservative Party's Susan Hall. He did particularly well in inner London but struggled in several outer boroughs.

There had been frenzied speculation on Friday that the result would be closer than previously thought, but Khan's lead showed a swing from Conservative to Labour compared to the previous mayoral election in 2021.

Khan, who replaced Boris Johnson as London mayor in 2016, has been an increasingly divisive in the past few years.

While his supporters say he has multiple achievements to his name, such as expanding housebuilding, free school meals for young children, keeping transport costs in check, and generally backing London's minority groups, his critics say he has overseen a crime surge, been anti-car, and unnecessarily allowed pro-Palestinian marches to become a regular feature at weekends.

"Sadiq Khan was absolutely the right candidate," said Labour leader Keir Starmer. "He has got two terms of delivery behind him, and I am confident that he has got another term of delivery in front of him."

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