Mayor of work in London Sadiq Khan, Who in 2016 became the first Muslim to rule a Western capital, was reelected for a second term, according to results released on Saturday.
The 50-year-old politician, the son of Pakistani immigrants and raised in social housing, defeated conservative Sean Bailey, of Jamaican descent, in Thursday’s municipal elections.
He received 55.2% of the vote in the second count against Shawn Bailey. In the first ballot involving all the candidates, he won 39.8% of the vote against 35.1% for Bailey.
During his tenure, Khan, a former human rights lawyer, built a reputation as a hardliner in Europe, alienated from Brexit and his messenger, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his predecessor as mayor.
In the campaign, Khan adopted “jobs, jobs, jobs” as a mantra in hopes of reviving the economy of a city marked by a plague and Brexit, dealing a severe blow to its strong financial sector.
To ensure a “brighter future” in London, he said he wants the city to be nominated for the “sustainable” Olympic Games in 2036 or 2040, which would stimulate the building of environmentally friendly infrastructure.
Khan grew up in Tooting, a working-class neighborhood in South London, with his six brothers and sister. His father was a bus driver and his mother was a dressmaker.
In 2005 he gave up his legal career to vote as representative for Tooting, where he still lives with his wife and two daughters.
During his first term, he froze public transportation rates and created low-emission zones to combat pollution from cars.
However, he has been criticized for not being able to stop stabbing attacks, a problem he attributes to the low number of police officers due to austerity measures by conservative governments.
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