Sadiq Khan Confirms Plan to Run for Third Term
Mayor says he has no ambitions to lead the Labour Party
Sadiq Khan compares Keir Starmer to manager who has won promotion to the Premier League
Sadiq Khan has confirmed that he is planning on running for Mayor of London for a third time in 2024 as he plays down talk of a Labour leadership bid.
During an appearance on LBC radio on Thursday morning, Mr Khan insisted that he has “the best job in politics” and said that he is “looking forward to” standing again for a third term at the next election.
Among some bookmakers, Sadiq Khan is currently third favourite to be the next leader of the Labour party behind Angela Rayner and fellow metro mayor Andy Burnham, but Mr Khan has repeatedly said he is happy in his current role.
Asked on Thursday morning (13 January) whether he thought he would do a better job as Labour leader than Keir Starmer, Mr Khan said that he “fully supports” the current leader and insisted that he doesn’t want his job.
He said, “I think we’ve seen over the last weeks and months the difference Keir Starmer has made to our party… When Keir Starmer became the leader of our party, we’d just seen the biggest defeat our party has suffered for a number of decades. The way I compare it to is a team you support being relegated and asking the manager, the new captain, to not just get the new team promotion, but to win the Premier League in one season. He’s doing a great job and the short answer is he’s got my full support.”
According to the latest polling from YouGov, Labour has a 10-point lead over the Conservatives in the wake of the latest partygate revelations as well as the second jobs debate that occurred at the end of 2021. It is the biggest lead the party has had over the Conservatives since 2013.
But despite recent polling improvements, YouGov figures from December also show that 58 per cent of people surveyed thought that Keir Starmer was doing a bad job as Labour leader, compared to 28 per cent who thought he was doing a good job.
When asked about the Prime Minister yesterday admission and “heartfelt apology” over the event held in the 10 Downing Street garden during lockdown he said, “This is a serious issue. I met members of my family who have made huge sacrifices, many Londoners made huge sacrifices, people across the country made huge sacrifices [during lockdown].
“It’s not just the arrogance of the Prime Minister, it’s not just the hypocrisy, it’s the blatant lying, it’s the pattern of behaviour we’re now seeing. This isn’t one party or a non-party, which is the defence – a ludicrous defence – but it’s him asking us to make sacrifices, him changing rules and then blatantly breaking the rules.”
Pushed again on whether he was considering a return to Parliament, Sadiq Khan said, “I love this job, it’s the best job in politics. We’ve got to deliver more over the next two and a half years, my intention is to continue to be the mayor of the greatest city in the world.
“I’d be able to do more with a Labour Government, with a Prime Minister in Keir Starmer, as the Mayor of London. The idea of being the Mayor of London when you’ve got a decent Government who is not anti-London supporting me doing my job is really exciting.”
Joe Talora - Local Democracy Reporter
January 13, 2022