Sadiq Khan says his dad would have been proud

LONDON: Labour’s Sadiq Khan has vowed to do all in his power to make London “better”, after he was sworn in as the new mayor.

Referring to his council estate roots, Khan, the city’s first Muslim mayor, said he wanted all Londoners to have the same opportunities he has had, Britsh media reported.

In his mayoral speech, Sadiq said: “You know, I have been thinking a lot about my late dad today. He was a wonderful man and a great dad.

“He would have been so proud today that the city he chose to call his home has now chosen one of his children to be the mayor.

“I want to say thank you my amazing mum - she really is - and to my wonderful wife, my daughters and to my family. Without you, I wouldn’t be here today.

“And I want to say thank you to everyone who worked so hard on this election.”

It comes as Defence Secretary Michael Fallon defended Conservative Zac Goldsmith’s campaign, describing it as the “rough and tumble” of politics.

The much-criticised campaign questioned Khan’s alleged links to extremists.

Khan beat Goldsmith, by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614, giving him a larger personal mandate than either of his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone.

He has announced he will step down as MP for Tooting, meaning a by-election will be held to elect a new representative in parliament. The former Labour minister’s victory in London ends eight years of Conservative control of City Hall.

It has also given a boost to Labour after its poor performance in Scotland’s election which saw it slump to third place behind the Conservatives.

Following on from its London success, Labour has also won Bristol’s mayoral contest, with candidate Marvin Rees beating the incumbent, independent George Ferguson, by a comfortable margin.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed Mr Rees’ victory, saying in a tweet: “Another Labour mayor who will stand up for their city!”

But Corbyn was absent from Khan’s swearing-in ceremony earlier on Saturday.

Khan - who nominated but did not vote for Corbyn in the Labour leadership contest - said he was “not sure” why, adding: “We’ll have to find out what he was doing.”

There is no specific form on these type of events, but this mayoral election was Labour’s biggest success in these recent elections, so it is pretty unusual that Corbyn was not at Khan’s signing-in ceremony.

And by contrast Corbyn is expected to attend an event to celebrate the election of the Labour candidate who has just won the role of Bristol mayor.

This fact raises questions about how Sadiq Khan and Jeremy Corbyn will work together in the future.

In other election news, the Northern Ireland election count has come to an end, and the Democratic Unionists remain the biggest party in the assembly, with Arlene Foster continuing as first minister.

‘Burning ambition’

As he was sworn in as London mayor in a ceremony in Southwark Cathedral, Khan, the son of Pakistani immigrants, said: “I’m only here today because of the opportunities and helping hand that our city gave to me and my family.

“My burning ambition for our city, that will guide my mayoralty, is to ensure that all Londoners get the opportunities that my city gave to me.”