Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan Seeks Second Term in London Election

By | 05 May 2021 10:00:44 | 222 | 0
Picture by: dw.com
Picture by: dw.com

London Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to aim for his second term by running for leader of the British Capital last week.

The Muslim politician from the Labour Party is considered to be one of the strongest candidates in the current London elections.

"As long as Londoners still believe in me as their mayor, I will continue to work there for this job," Khan told AFP.

Khan said his priority for a second term was to keep working hard. He wants to maintain the City of London as the world's top city while addressing the impact of Brexit.

Khan is the third London mayor to be nominated as a candidate for British PM.

He did predict the UK would have its first Muslim PM "in the not too long term." However, Khan insists the PM is not himself.

Before his career in politics, the 50-year-old was a human rights advocate.

During this time, Khan was famously very vocal in criticising britain's decision to leave the European Union or Brexit. He has also famously vocally criticized the controversial administrations of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former President of the United States Donald Trump.

Khan even allowed a baby-shaped blimp and Trump's head to air in the London sky during the president's visit to the UK in 2018. The balloon was flown by protesters protesting Trump's arrival.

At the time, Trump was widely protested because of his controversial policies especially regarding immigrants and Muslims.

"He (Trump) once called me a rock loser. Only one of us is a loser and that's not me," Khan said.

Khan is of Pakistani descent. He was born in London in 1970. The fifth of seven children grew up in Tooting public housing, an ethnically mixed residential area in south London.

His humble background makes Khan quite popular with Londoners.

Khan joined the Labour Party at the age of 15. At the time, Britain was being led by Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Khan became a local councillor for Tooting in the Wandsworth area in 1994. He became an MP for the Labour Party in 2005.

Khan was appointed UK communities minister in 2008 by PM Gordon Brown. He was prime minister who attended a Meeting of the British Cabinet while serving as transport minister in the same year.

Despite being Muslim, Khan has a moderate view. He supported same-sex marriage, which led to him receiving death threats.

 

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