John Phillips/Correspondent
Sadiq Khan was first elected mayor of London in 2016.
CNN
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Sadiq Khan has won a third term as mayor of London, confirming Labor's political supremacy and capping a disastrous run of local elections across England for Britain's Conservative government.
Khan won 43.7% of the vote, defeating Conservative challenger Susan Hall by about 11 points and extending his control of the capital that began in 2016.
This follows a series of victories for Labor across the UK, putting it in a solid position to wrest power from Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Party in a general election in the coming months.
The Conservative Party lost control of 10 local councils and nearly 500 MPs on Thursday, suffering a crushing blow at the hands of the public in an election that almost everyone, including within the party, had expected.
Labor leader Keir Starmer told reporters on Saturday: “I'm sorry, but I don't care what party you support. If you leave the country 14 years later in a worse state than when you found it, then… You don't deserve to stay in this country.” I hope the government will do its best for a while longer. ”
But Mr Sunak is likely to have found enough slivers of success to withstand a challenge to his leadership, which has been threatened by restive Conservatives, depending on the outcome of Thursday's election.
The party hopes to retain the mayoral seat in the West Midlands on Saturday after previously winning it in the Tees Valley, with Sunak aiming to unite MPs at least in Westminster. I was hoping to give him something to hold on to in what was becoming an increasingly precarious situation.
Thursday's poll marked the final dry run before the general election, which must be held by January. Mr Sunak has resisted calls for a timetable for a vote, with Labor leading by a wide margin in the polls.
Mr Starmer's opposition won a majority in eight parliaments and on Thursday also scored a big victory in the Westminster by-election in Blackpool.
The result confirmed the conventional opinion poll view that the party was on track to win government, but Labor did not face the stormy red wave that some within the party had been hoping for. He was never able to fully pull it off and fell short in some of the most difficult campaigns he faced.
There were also signs that dissatisfaction with the party's position on Israel's war in Gaza was hurting Labor among voters in areas with large Muslim populations. In particular, the loss of Oldham Council, a town in northwest England where around a quarter of the population is Muslim.
Yvette Cooper, Labour's shadow home secretary, told the BBC: “We recognize the strength of that feeling and of course we will do the same as we are doing in all parts of the country to win back votes in the future. I will continue to strive to do so.”
If confirmed, Mr Khan will become the first London mayor to serve a third term since the post was created in 2000.
The city of 9 million people is more multicultural, liberal and pro-European than Britain as a whole, which has led Mr Khan to occasionally clash with previous Labor leaders, particularly over Brexit.
He has prioritized emissions-cutting policies to shake off the city's reputation as a major polluter and made international headlines for his long public spat with former US President Donald Trump during his administration. Ta.
But critics have criticized Mr Khan's record on knife crime and the recent expansion of the world's first low-emission zone, with the Conservatives claiming poor families in suburban London will be hit hardest. ing.