Sadiq Aman Khan[4] (born 8 October 1970) is a British politician who has served as theMayor of London since May 2016 and previously served as Member of Parliament(MP) for Tooting since 2005.[5][6] A member of the Labour Party, he is situated on the party'ssoft left and has been ideologically characterised as a social democrat.
Born in London to a working-class British Pakistani family, Khan gained a degree in Lawfrom the University of North London. He subsequently worked as a solicitor specialising in human rights, and chaired Liberty for three years. Joining Labour, Khan was a Councillorfor the London Borough of Wandsworth from 1994 to 2006 before being elected MP for Tooting in 2005. Under the Labour government of Prime Minister Gordon Brownhe was appointed Minister of State for Communities in 2008, later becoming Minister of State for Transport. A key ally of Labour leader Ed Miliband, he served in Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Shadow Lord Chancellor, and Shadow Minister for London.
Khan was elected Mayor of London in the2016 mayoral election, succeedingConservative Party Mayor Boris Johnson. He announced that he would resign as MP for Tooting "as soon as possible".[5] His election as Mayor of London made him the first actively affiliated Muslim to become mayor of a major Western capital and gave him the largest personal mandate in British electoral history.[7]
Early life
Khan was born at St George's Hospital inTooting, South London, the fifth of eight children (seven sons and a daughter) in a family of Pakistani immigrants.[8][9]
His grandparents migrated from India to Pakistan following the partition of India in 1947, and his parents migrated to England from Pakistan shortly before Khan was born. His late father, Amanullah Khan, worked as abus driver for over 25 years; his mother, Sehrun, was a seamstress.[8]
From his earliest years, Khan worked, “I was surrounded by my mum and dad working all the time, so as soon as I could get a job, I got a job. I got a paper round, a Saturday job – some summers I laboured on a building site.”[8] The family continues to send money to relatives in Pakistan, "because we're blessed being in this country.”[8]
Khan and his siblings grew up in a three-bedroom council flat on the Henry Prince Estate in Earlsfield. He attended Fircroft Primary School and Ernest Bevin College, a local comprehensive. Khan studied science and mathematics at A-level, in the hope of eventually qualifying as a dentist. A teacher recommended that he read law, as he had an argumentative personality. The teacher's suggestion, along with the television programmeLA Law, inspired Khan to do so. He entered the University of North London to study law.[8]While studying for his degree, from the age of 18 and 21 he worked on Saturdays at thePeter Jones department store in Sloane Square.[10]
He was a visiting lecturer at the University of North London, and a Governor of South Thames FE College. Vice-Chairman of the Legal Action Group (LAG), Khan also served as Chairman of the civil liberties pressure group Liberty (NCCL) for three years.[citation needed]
Legal career
Before entering the House of Commons in 2005, Khan practised as a solicitor.
He completed the Law Society finals at the College of Law in Guildford. From 1994 to 1997, he was employed as a trainee solicitor and assistant solicitor and from 1997 to 2005, was apartner in the firm Christian Khan with Louise Christian.[8][11]
During his legal career he acted in actions against the police, employment anddiscrimination law, judicial reviews, inquests and crime, and was involved in cases including the following:
- Bubbins vs The United Kingdom (European Court of Human Rights – shooting of an unarmed individual by police marksmen)[12]
- HSU and Thompson v Met Police (wrongful arrest/police damages)[13]
- Reeves v Met Police (duty of care to prisoners)[14]
- Murray v CAB (discrimination)[15]
- Ahmed v University of Oxford (racial discrimination against a student)[16]
- Dr Jadhav v Secretary of State for Health (racial discrimination in the employment of Indian doctors by the health service)[17]
- CI Logan v Met Police (racial discrimination)[18]
- Supt Dizaei v Met Police (police damages, discrimination)[19]
- Inquest into the death of David Rocky Bennett (use of restraints)[20]
- Lead solicitor on Mayday demonstration 2001 test case litigation (Human Rights Act)[21]
- Farrakhan v Home Secretary (Human Rights Act)[22]
- In February 2000, Khan represented a group of Kurdish actors who were arrested by Metropolitan Police during a rehearsal of the Harold Pinter play Mountain Language, securing £150,000 in damages for the group for wrongful arrest and the trauma caused by their arrest.[23]
- McDowell and Taylor v Met Police: Leroy McDowell and Wayne Taylor successfully sued the Metropolitan Police for assault and false imprisonment.[24]
Parliamentary career
Before entering Parliament, Khan represented Tooting as a Councillor for the London Borough of Wandsworth from 1994 to 2006, and was granted the title of HonoraryAlderman of Wandsworth upon his retirement from local politics. [25]
In 2003, Tooting Constituency Labour Party decided to open its parliamentary selection to all interested candidates, including the incumbent MP since 1974, Tom Cox. This prompted Cox, then in his mid-70s, to announce his retirement rather than risk de-selection. In the subsequent selection contest, Khan defeated five other local candidates to become Labour's candidate for the seat. He was elected to Parliament at the 2005 general election.
Khan was awarded the "Newcomer of the Year Award" at the 2005 SpectatorParliamentarian of the Year Awards "for the tough-mindedness and clarity with which he has spoken about the very difficult issues of Islamic terror".[26] In August 2006, he was a signatory of an open letter to Tony Blair criticising UK foreign policy.[27]
Khan had to repay £500 in expenses in 2007 in relation to a newsletter sent to constituents featuring a 'Labour rose', which was deemed to be unduly prominent. While the content of the newsletter was not deemed to be party political, the rose logo was found to be unduly prominent which may have had the effect of promoting a political party. There was no suggestion that Khan had deliberately or dishonestly compiled his expenses claims, which were not explicitly disallowed under the rules at that time. The rules were retrospectively changed disallowing the claim, which had previously been approved by the House of Commons authorities.[28][29]
On 3 February 2008, The Sunday Times[30] claimed that a conversation between Khan and prisoner Babar Ahmad – a constituent accused and later convicted of involvement in terrorism – at Woodhill Prison in Milton Keynes had been bugged by the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch.[31] An inquiry was launched by the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw.[31]
There was concern that the bugging contravened the Wilson Doctrine that police should not bug MPs. The report concluded that the doctrine did not apply because it affected only bugging requiring approval by the Home Secretary, while in Khan's case the monitoring was authorised by a senior police officer. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, then announced a further policy review and said the bugging of discussions between MPs and their constituents should be banned.[32]
In 2010, Khan was re-elected as the MP for Tooting despite a swing against his party of 3.6% and a halving of his previous majority. In the subsequent Labour leadership electionKhan was an early backer of Ed Miliband, becoming his campaign manager.[33]
In April 2010 it was revealed that Khan had repaid falsely claimed expenses on two occasions, when literature was sent to his constituents. The first incident concerned letters sent out before the 2010 General Election which were ruled to have the "unintentional effect of promoting his return to office", the second a £2,550 repayment for Christmas, Eid, and birthday cards for constituents, dating back to 2006.[34] Under House of Commons rules, pre-paid envelopes and official stationery can only be used for official parliamentary business.[35][36][37]
Khan's claim for the greetings cards was initially rejected, but he presented a new invoice no longer identifying the nature of the claim, and this was accepted. Khan attributed the improper claim for the cards to "inexperience" and human error and apologised for breaking the expenses rules.[38][39]
At the 2015 general election, Khan was returned for a third term as MP for Tooting, defeating his Conservative rival by 2,842 votes.[4] He was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015, but has said that he was "no patsy" to Mr Corbyn and would stand up to him.[40][41]
Government minister
Sadiq Khan speaking in 2011
Following Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet reshuffleof 3 October 2008, Khan was appointed Minister of State for Communities, replacing Parmjit Dhanda, and becoming the second Muslim to serve in Her Majesty's Government. Before the House of Commons in January 2009, Khan criticised the Pope for the rehabilitation of Bishop Richard Williamson following his remarks about the Holocaust, a move he described as "highly unsavoury" and of "great concern".[42]
In 2009, he became the first Muslim to attend Cabinet upon his appointment as Minister of State for Transport.[43] In what was believed to be a first for an MP, Khan used his Twitteraccount to self-announce his promotion as Transport Secretary.[44]
In March 2010, Khan publicly stated that for a second successive year he would not be taking a pay rise as an MP or Minister, declaring "At a time when many people in Tooting and throughout the country are having to accept pay freezes I don't think it's appropriate for MPs to accept a pay rise."[45] For his first fifteen months' service in HM Government, he chose not to draw a ministerial incremental salary, having made sufficient money as alawyer.
Shadow Cabinet
In the wake of Labour's 2010 election defeat, Acting Leader Harriet Harman appointed Khan Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.[46]
After running Ed Miliband's successful leadership campaign, Khan was previously rewarded with the senior roles of Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Justice Secretary. He was advanced as Shadow Minister for London, in addition to his other responsibilities, in 2013.
He is regularly named among the Top 100 London politicians in the London Evening Standard's annual poll of the 1,000 most influential Londoners[47] and is an Ambassador forMosaic Network,[48] an initiative set up by Prince Charles.
Mayor of London
2016 candidacy
In 2013, Sadiq Khan appeared on a number of speaker platforms and in the press discussing the 2016 London mayoral election, and was quoted in the London Evening Standard saying he would consider running for Mayor of London.
In May 2015, he declared his intention to become the Labour Party's mayoral candidate. In September 2015, Khan won the selection, polling 37.5% of the first round vote with former minister Dame Tessa Jowell in second place on 29.7%. In the final round, following the elimination of lower-placed candidates, Khan took 58.9% against 41.1% for Jowell.[49]
In November 2015 Sadiq Khan made a promise to freeze all London's Tube, train and bus fares for four years if elected Mayor.[50] He said that this would cost £450m over four years, but TfL said that the real cost would be £1.9 billion, saying that Khan had not considered "increasing ridership over the Business Plan (passenger numbers are rising by 5 per cent every year) and there will be new fares revenue from Crossrail when it opens in 2018/19".[51]
Khan's tally in the 2016 election gave him the largest personal mandate of any politician in the history of the United Kingdom.[52] Various press sources noted that Khan's election made him the first actively affiliated Muslim to become mayor of a major Western capital.[53][52]
Khan was officially sworn in as Mayor in a multi-faith ceremony held in Southwark Cathedral the following day.[52]
Political views
Writing for The Spectator, the political commentator Nick Cohen described Khan as a centre-left social democrat,[54] while the journalist Amol Rajan termed him "a torch-bearer for the social democratic wing" of the Labour Party.[55] The BBC describe Khan as being located on the party's soft left.[56]
Khan has stated that he received death threats for voting in favour of the Same-Sex Marriage Bill. There was a fatwa put out against him, in which an Imam declared him to be no longer a Muslim; he had been given police advice on protection.[57]
Awards and nominations
In January 2013 and 2015, Khan was nominated for the Politician of the Year Award at theBritish Muslim Awards.[58] He later won the award in February 2016.[59]
Personal life
Khan married Saadiya Ahmed, a fellow solicitor, in 1994 and has two daughters, Anisah (born 1999) and Ammarah (born 2001).[8] Khan also served as Chairman of the Fabian Society,[60] remaining on its Executive Committee. In 2009 he won the Jenny Jeger Award (Best Fabian Pamphlet) for his writing "Fairness not Favours: How to re-connect with British Muslims".[61][62] He also edited the Fabian Essay Collection Our London: the Capital beyond 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadiq_Khan
