Sadiq Khan wins second term as Mayor of London: “Thank you London”

Sadiq Khan has won a second term as the Mayor of London – see all the results and reaction below.

• READ MORE: Sadiq Khan on plans to put undercover police in clubs: “Policing alone cannot fix this issue”

Khan, who has been Mayor since 2016, beat Conservative rival Shaun Bailey to the win, with The Green Party’s Sian Berry in third ahead of Liberal Democrats candidate Luisa Porritt.

Khan, the Labour candidate, picked up 55.2% of the popular vote, winning a 228,000-vote majority. Bailey’s score of 44.8% was a 1.6% increase on the Tories’ vote share.

Speaking at City Hall following his victory, Khan said: “I will always be a mayor for all Londoners, working to improve the lives of every single person in this city.

“The results of the elections around the UK shows our country, and even our city, remains deeply divided. The scars of Brexit have yet to heal. A crude culture war is pushing us further apart.”

Thank you London. It’s the absolute honour of my life to serve the city I love for another three years.

I’ll leave no stone unturned to get our city back on its feet.

A brighter future is possible, and we’ll deliver it together. pic.twitter.com/kwA1awEten

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 8, 2021

Elsewhere in this week’s elections, Labour also won mayoral elections in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and more, while the Conservatives made gains in many councils across the country, adding over 200 councillors.

The other big story came on Friday (May 7), when the Tories surprisingly won the Hartlepool by-election from Labour.

Last week, Sadiq Khan spoke to NME of the need to “listen to the experiences of women and girls” in the wake of controversial plans to put plain clothes police officers in nightclubs.

“We have to recognise that we live in a patriarchal society and have a culture of misogyny,” Khan said. “We must fundamentally change the behaviour of men and boys to ensure all women are safe and feel safe.”

Opening up on his own plans to improve safety levels across London, he added: “The police force is vital to keeping Londoners safe, but policing alone cannot fix this issue. If re-elected, I plan to refresh the city’s Violence Against Women and Girls strategy so that it takes a public health approach, includes a focus on prevention, and responds to changing pressures.”

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