It's a marathon, not a sprint: Sadiq Khan's first 100 days as Mayor of London
Today marks Sadiq Khan’s 100th day as Mayor of London.
He was elected on May 5 and since then it has been something of a political whirlwind; not just for him, but for London and the UK as well.
The country voted to leave the EU in that time – though London voted to remain – and Theresa May took over as prime minister after David Cameron stepped down following Brexit.
Brexit has dominated Khan’s first 100 days in office. In the aftermath of the referendum there were immediate calls for more devolution of powers to London, and some people even wanted London to declare independence from the rest of the UK.
In response to this the Mayor said: “The key job I have is to make sure as a consequence of that vote jobs, trade, investment doesn’t leave London.
“We’re going to carry on being open to talent, open to trade… it’s a state of mind as well as how we as a city have flourished over the last 1000 years.”
Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor for Business, admits that there are “concerns” within the business world following the referendum, and “uncertainty as to how things will shape up” but that in the last 100 days Khan and his team have ensured an “underlying confidence”; City Hall and business leaders are working well together to get the best deal for London.
To get that “best deal for London” Khan must negotiate with the new prime minister and her government.
He said, “I’m not saying give London a bigger slice of the cake, what I’m saying is give us more control over how the cake is eaten if you like, we’ll make the whole cake bigger.”
Tortured metaphors aside, Khan says he has been impressed with the government’s willingness to talk to him, and that when it is in London’s interests to do so he must work with them.
Another priority for Khan has been the housing crisis, which he admits is a “huge challenge” and “quite frankly scary.”
He hopes his Homes for Londoners initiative will go some way to solving this.
Khan also believes progress has already been made in transport (the Night Tube begins this weekend), air quality, and policing.
In what might be interpreted as a dig at his predecessor Khan said: “The key thing for me was to make Londoners have confidence that mayors can do stuff.
“It’s not simply a question of acting like a buffoon and trying to be funny and witty, but actually it’s about doing stuff that will improve the quality of your life.
“A hundred days; a lot done. A lot more to do in the next four years.”
ArticleSadiq Khan on his 100 days as MayorSadiq KhanMayor100 DaysLondonSadiq Khan's first 100 days as Mayor of London: It's a marathon, not a sprintSadiq Khan on his 100 days as Mayor: It's a marathon, not a sprint