Sadiq Khan wins a historic third term as London Mayor; Tories suffer major defeats in local elections

Sadiq Khan makes a speech as he is re-elected for a record third time as Mayor of London, following the counting of votes, at City Hall in London, on May 4, 2024. | Photo Credit: AP

The Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan won a record third term as London’s Mayor despite predictions that a low voter turnout of 40.5% in the May 2 election would harm him. With the last mayoral constituency declaring results late afternoon on Saturday, Mr Khan easily won, with a 43.8% vote share compared to his main opponent, the Conservative Party’s Susan Hall, who came in with 32.7% of the vote. Mr Khan had won nine of 14 constituencies and a vote margin of more than 276,000 votes.

In some instances,  the Conservatives did not see a vote swing towards them in their stronghold boroughs (Bexley and Bromley for example) while they lost others to Labour (West Central). On the other hand, in the inner borough of Southwark and Lambeth, there was a vote swing towards Labour.

Ms. Hall had campaigned to fight crime by increasing the number of police and moving to more localized policies. She had also promised to end Mr. Khan’s signature expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) for automobiles. Mr. Khan’s pledges included continuing free meals in primary schools, promises to freeze certain public transport fares, and more police personnel.  

In his victory speech, Mr. Khan promised to deliver a “fairer, safer and greener London”. He said his campaign had answered “fearmongering with facts”, a reference to right-wing threats against him. Ms. Hall was criticized for associating with controversial social media groups in which users had made Islamophobic comments against Mr Khan.

The results in London and across local bodies in England and Wales spelt continuing bad news for the Tories, who have on average, been polling behind Labour by some 20 points. Reports of an internal rebellion against Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak emerged after May 2 but had quietened down by Saturday morning. The Tories had one bit of good news in Tees Valley, where Ben Houchen was re-elected Mayor. As of this writing, results from the West Midlands (several elections) were awaited, with Tories hoping Conservative Andy Street would stay on as Mayor.

With 106 of 107 local councils in England declaring results, Labour had won a majority in 50 councils (an addition of eight), with the Conservatives winning a total of six (a loss of 10). The Liberal Democrats won 12 councils (a gain of two).  Labour Mayor Andy Burnham was re-elected in Greater Manchester. Labour also won in Liverpool, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

“The honest truth is that this set of results is pretty much what we would have anticipated, given what the opinion polls have been telling us about the mood of the country,” polling expert John Curtice said during an interview with the BBC.