May 4 (UPI) — London Mayor Sadiq Khan officially secured a third term on Saturday as local election results across Britain showed the ruling Conservative Party suffering heavy losses across the board.
Khan, a member of the country’s center-left Labor Party, won 43.7% of the vote, easily out dueling Conservative challenger Susan Hall by around 11 percentage points or approximately 276,707 votes.
Voting took place Thursday across Britain.
Thank you, London. It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love.
Today is not about making history, it’s about shaping our future.
And I’ll work relentlessly to shape a fairer, safer, greener city for every Londoner. pic.twitter.com/OQJVxGg6IB— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 4, 2024
“It’s been a difficult few months. We faced a campaign of non stop negativity,” Khan said during his victory speech Saturday after the votes were tallied.
“Thank you, London. It’s the honor of my life to serve the city I love,” Khan later said on X, alongside pictures of supporters.
“Today is not about making history, it’s about shaping our future. And I’ll work relentlessly to shape a fairer, safer, greener city for every Londoner.”
Khan’s party also enjoyed broader success across Britain in the local elections, which are seen as an indicator of public sentiment as the country moves closer to a general election next January that could see the end of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s term in office and 14 consecutive years of governments led by the Tories.
Sunak’s party saw its worst local election results in 30 years with speculation mounting he could face an internal leadership challenge.
“I am sorry, I don’t care which political party you support, if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in Government for a moment longer,” Labor leader Keir Starmer told reporters Saturday.
Khan is the third-ever mayor of London, the chief executive of the Greater London Authority which was created in 2000. The office is separate from the longstanding Lord Mayor of London, which is elected annually.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson preceded Khan in the role.
Khan is now the first person in the role to serve a third term.
The 53-year-old lawyer previously served as Member of Parliament from 2005 until he was elected mayor in 2016.