‘My name is Sadiq Khan & I’m the mayor of London’
London, May 7
Sadiq Khan was today sworn-in as London’s mayor after he won by a record margin to become the first Muslim to occupy the top post as he hailed his victory as a triumph of “hope over fear and unity over division”.
Khan, the son of a Pakistani bus driver, beat Conservative Zac Goldsmith with 57 per cent votes — the largest mandate of any British politician in history — marking the return of Labour rule to the UK capital after eight years.
Khan was officially sworn-in as the new mayor of London at a multi-faith ceremony in Southwark Cathedral here.
The first Muslim mayor of the British capital received a standing ovation as he walked into the hall after he won 1,310,143 votes to beat his nearest Conservative rival Goldsmith.
“Good morning. My name is Sadiq Khan and I’m the mayor of London. I will be a mayor for all Londoners,” he said, before signing his declaration of office.
The 45-year-old is the third person to become the elected mayor of London, after fellow Labour politician Ken Livingstone and Conservative Boris Johnson.
In his victory speech last night at City Hall, his new office, Khan described London as the “greatest city in the world” and said he had never imagined that “someone like me could be elected as mayor of London”. — PTI
