The First Muslim Mayor, Sadiq Khan, Returns to Lead London City

Photo: Instagram @Sadiqkhan

JAKARTA - Sadiq Khan has been re-elected as mayor of London, England for the second term. The Labor politician became the first Muslim mayor of London who was elected 5 years ago.

On the other hand, Khan's victory was also a breath of fresh air for the Labor Party which suffered the defeat of the Conservative Party in other elections. It is known, Khan is quite narrowly superior to his rival, Shaun Bailey of the Conservative Party who is under the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

As reported by Reuters, Sunday, May 9, Khan's margin of victory is thin, namely 55.2 percent, while Bailey gets 44.8 percent. But the previous polls tended to win over Khan.

A total of 997,601 votes was won by Khan from more than a million votes entered. The number of voters this time is indeed less than the previous election.

"I am honored by the trust given by Londoners to continue to lead the world's largest city. I promise to do my best to build a better and brighter future for London after the dark days of the pandemic," Khan said.

In his victory speech, Khan also said that during his second term he would focus on building bridges between different communities and between cities and governments.

Not only that, but Khan also intends to ensure London plays its part in the national recovery and builds a greener and brighter future for the capital.

In leading this city of nearly 9 million people, Khan did not escape many challenges, having succeeded Johnson as the previous mayor. These challenges include the increase in cases of crime and violence in London, especially involving teenagers.

As a result of this case, Khan had clashed on Twitter with former US President Donald Trump while he was still in office. The feud over Trump's travel ban on people from Muslim countries. Trump accused Khan of doing a very bad job fighting terrorism and called him a "loser" and "national disgrace."