LONDON MAYOR

Sadiq Khan’s third term victory is a defeat for racism and smear tactics


While Susan Hall is gone London must keep taking a stand against divisive hate politics says Richard Sudan

LONDON HAS weathered many storms. Last week however, following the Mayoral elections, the city averted an all-out crisis. Thankfully it now has some breathing space.


Sadiq Khan was elected as London’s Mayor for a historic third term, but once more had to contend with an overt campaign of smear tactics and lies, including racism, similar to the disgraceful campaign waged by Zac Goldsmith just a few years ago.
Dirt

Had a candidate from another background walked in Khan’s shoes, the dirt thrown at him might have been considered more newsworthy, and have created more of a stir. But he’s Muslim. So it didn’t.

We’re living in a time where open right-wing nationalism is rearing its ugly head and the fight for London mayor was always going to be a bitter battleground – but not because of Khan –he fought a dignified campaign while facing an avalanche of hate.

Right-wingers sharing messages for example, including ‘London has fallen’ in the wake of his win, sit alongside other headlines like that of the Daily Mail, deliberately presenting and framing the democratic election of British Muslims to council positions in the recent local elections, as some kind of clash of civilisations.

The alarm bells used to ring when Black people were elected too, and sometimes this remains the case.

The reality is, there are just under four million Muslims in the UK, 10% of whom are Black, making up about 6.5% of a total population of around 70 plus million.
Culture war

By no means does this constitute a take-over. London has a big population of British Muslims too. The only thing that wants to take over is a culture war.

Despite the facts, however, Islamophobia and the tropes that come with it are so normalised, that casual anti-Muslim racism don’t cause a stir.

Thankfully London had the good sense to reject this actual division. What alarms me however is that Susan Hall even managed to gain a single vote. She might be gone, but her support base should serve as a warning.

Racism and lies clouded the London Mayoral election race, in what should have been a battle of ideas in a healthy democracy.
Part of a tweet on X by actor and Reclaim Party founder Laurence Fox that has been widely criticised on social media (Pic: X/@LozzaFox)

But the same political figures who claim to want to live in a democracy dampen its potential with an even stronger commitment to racism, Islamophobia and anti-Blackness than anything else.

None of this means that Khan should be beyond criticism, after all, that is the job of any elected official, in this case in charge of a city inhabited by millions.

For example, following The Voice’s recent coverage of the election cycle last week, one response online argued that Khan had been weak on the Metropolitan Police, while also acknowledging his strengths in other areas.

Should we push Khan on his pledge to keep holding the Metropolitan Police to account, while demanding more from him? Absolutely we should. The stakes are too high not to, but we also need to recognise the limits of his power.
Legislation

Legislation from the government is needed to tighten up the Met, with a commissioner who gets it. This isn’t on the horizon in Westminster or Scotland Yard.

We also need to be crystal clear, and under no illusions, that under Susan Hall the opposite would have happened.


We’re living in a time where open right-wing nationalism is rearing its ugly head and the fight for London mayor was always going to be a bitter battleground – but not because of Khan –he fought a dignified campaign while facing an avalanche of hate.Richard Sudan

She’s a politician that pins violent crime on Black people, racialising it for political expediency. She doesn’t quite have the guts to say it out loud and directly but you can be sure of her views.

I’m sure she views the fact and reality of institutional racism within the Met as some sort of woke vendetta, but in any case she certainly does not think there is any institutional racism within the Met.
Incumbent Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan, received 1,088,000 votes, a majority of 275,000 over Conservative candidate, Susan Hall. (Pic: Getty Images)

Can you imagine Hall in charge? Far from holding the Met to account, I believe she would have attempted to weaponise it against our communities.

Some of the other tropes being peddled online, pointed at crime in the city, pinning it on Khan as some kind of “gotcha” as if he has the powers of prime minister.

They may as well have blamed the bad weather on him too.

The analysis and data around crime are clear. The links to poverty and other factors are unarguable. We’ve had 14 years of austerity by Tory rule, fuelling the worst cost of living crisis and inequality levels in a generation, disproportionately impacting black and non-white communities.

Tories like Susan Hall, Sadiq Khan’s main opponent in the race, sought to blame poverty on Khan rather than the actions of her own government.
Hypocrisy

The shameless opportunistic hypocrisy of Hall needs a book written about it to fully cover the length and breadth of the gutter politics she represents.

Susan Hall would have slashed funding for Black organisations, scrapped school lunches and cancelled carnival.

I’m just about old enough to remember people talking about “Thatcher the milk snatcher” as a very small boy.
Re-elected Mayor of London, Labour’s Sadiq Khan speaks during the declaration for London’s Mayor, at City Hall in London on Saturday May 4 (Pic: Getty)

Susan Hall’s statements hinted that she’d have axed free school meals for kids. This is a particular kind of cruelty reminding us, that if hungry children can be discarded, then that kind of ruthless politics can be extended to any of us.

Something else I believe many failed to do in this election was separate Sadiq Khan from Keir Starmer’s Labour.

Starmer is in the unique position of likely being about to win a landslide while being one of the most unpopular leaders in opposition in recent times.

Part of this is because of his stance on the black community, Gaza, and back peddling on many of the things people liked about Labour’s manifesto under Corbyn.

Some reading this will rightly be angered about Labour’s stance on Palestine. Khan called for a ceasefire from day one, and was attacked for it, whereas Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who also took the same position, was not. You can guess why.

Sadiq Khan is not part of the party machine under Starmer which has turned many people away from Labour.

In fact, although the Tory government has made things as hard as possible for City Hall, I am not confident things will be much better under Starmer. I’m concerned.

Sadiq Khan will have a tough job on his hands over the next few years but thankfully we have a mayor who I think cares about the city and wants to make things better for all communities.
Humility

Susan Hall has been sent packing but her politics has not. During Khan’s victory speech Hall had the opportunity to show some humility and grace but seemed incapable of doing so.

London won’t fall under Sadiq Khan as the racists have been tweeted. But I think cracks might have appeared at the foundation with Susan Hall in charge.

She’s gone. She probably won’t be running for mayor again, but the ideas she represents need to be battled on every front in London at every turn, and indeed, right across the