Sadiq Khan wins third term in London continues to count gains

[LeftishBrit]

Labour’s Sadiq Khan has stormed to victory in the London mayoral election, as the contest for the West Midlands remains on a knife edge for Conservative Andy Street.

Incumbent mayor Mr Khan beat his nearest rival, Tory candidate Susan Hall, in a contest beset by criticism of his decision to expand London’s ultra low emission zone.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was confident of Mr Khan’s victory before declarations began, as he counted mayoral victories for his party in Liverpool, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and in Greater Manchester where Andy Burnham returned to power.

Mr Khan needed to win a simple majority of ballots cast, as the rules for the mayoral race were changed to a first-past-the-post voting system ahead of the latest election.


https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/sadiq-khan-wins-third-term-in-london-as-labour-continues-to-count-gains/ar-AA1o8BCD?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=577e15581975491e885bd582cff81e9e&ei=4

[LeftishBrit]

1. PHEW!

Susan Hall was scary!

[T_i_B]

2. She was an idiotic choice as the Tory candidate to begin with

And she ran a terrible campaign. You are never going to win election if you come across as actively disliking the people you would be representing if elected. And Susan Hall very much gave that impression.

Running a campaign based on bad mouthing London and it's inhabitants might work in Clacton-on-sea, but it doesn't wash in Clapham, Chiswick or any other part of London.

[EarlG]

3. When I checked in yesterday

there seemed to be concerns that it was coming down to the wire and would be a razor thin margin of victory no matter who won.

Guess that turned out to be completely wrong

[Emrys]

4. And Andy Street's out as West Midlands mayor

Stunning Labour triumphs in London and West Midlands leave Sunak reeling

Keir Starmer says the prime minister has no option but to call a general election

Rishi Sunak was dealt a series of shattering blows last night as Labour won a knife-edge battle to seize the West Midlands mayoralty from the Conservatives and Sadiq Khan trounced his Tory rival in London to secure a third term.

The results, along with decisive victories for Labour’s Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram in Liverpool and Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire, left Labour in charge of most of England’s mayoralties.

The West Midlands upset where Andy Street lost to Richard Parker by 1,508 votes, announced after a dramatic series of recounts, followed a disastrous showing for the Tories in Thursday’s local council elections. They finished third behind the Liberal Democrats in the number of seats won, for the first time since 1996.

The danger for Sunak is that Conservative MPs will now see the PM and the national party as having destroyed a successful and popular mayor in the West Midlands who was credited by many with boosting the region’s economy. Street’s fate was sealed despite him having done all he could to disassociate himself from the national Conservative party in his campaign for a third term.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/04/stunning-labour-triumphs-in-london-and-west-midlands-leave-sunak-reeling

"Stunning" may be a bit of hype as there's no way the London race should have been anywhere near close given the whackaloon Khan was running against and polling guru John Curtis indicated yesterday that he felt there was going to be less of a shine on Labour's results as a result of the backlash against the Labour Party's stance on Gaza, but it'll do.

Maybe Sunak should book a flight to Rwanda? Or we could do it for him.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I'm surprised there wasn't more coverage of the 11.7% the independent Akhmed Yakoob got in West Midlands

He's wondering about joining Galloway's party, and I think we can take his showing as part of the backlash about Gaza.

Labour got 37.8%, Tories 37.5%, and Yakoob 11.7% - more than twice any of the candidates below that.
https://news.sky.com/story/follow-the-mayoral-election-results-live-here-13125693

From nowhere, the lawyer with a Tik Tok strategy has caused a political earthquake that's left the traditional parties reeling - not least the Labour Party. He couldn't quite keep Richard Parker out of the mayor's hot seat, but it would be 'crazy' to ignore the massive impact he has made, says Yardley MP Jess Phillips.

He has caused chaos, and he loves it. Off the back of widespread anger and frustration over the mainstream parties' reluctance to go all in on Israel over Gaza and demand an urgent ceasefire, he launched a pro Palestine campaign that's gone viral.

In Birmingham, more than 42,000 people, largely in inner city areas of East and West Birmingham, gave him their backing. It meant the Labour vote tanked in some areas that had previously been all red, just when it ought to have been free to capitalise on distaste for the Conservative party.
...
In all he secured 69,621 votes. Now he is eyeing up joining George Galloway's Workers Party of GB ahead of a tilt at the Ladywood constituency in Birmingham in the General Election, though thinks he might be better staying independent. "It's possible but I'm still working things out," he said today.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/akhmed-yakoob-says-this-earthquake-29114940

[Emrys]

6. Yes, bad as the elections were for the Tories, there are plenty of warning signs for Labour.

For instance, last time I looked, independents and the Greens had done well at its expense in South Tyneside.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. The only councillor that I know (Labour) has just lost her seat, in a heavily-student ward

Looking back, there's been a steady rise in the Green vote from 28% in 2019, to 51% this year. Though looking at the other wards that make up the upcoming Westminster constituency, it should still be a safe Labour seat.

[Emrys]

8. The Greens had a pretty good showing all over

Wonder what it would take to get them on Question Time or whatever regularly, rather than the usual wankers from Reform etc.?