After greater than 20 years as a Labour politician, Mr Khan, who was elected to a 3rd time period as London Mayor this 12 months, is about to be given the accolade.
The Cupboard Workplace didn’t touch upon the hypothesis on honours.
The mayor did not come from a rich household. Raised on a housing property in south London, he was considered one of eight kids born to Pakistani immigrants who labored as a seamstress and bus driver.
He initially turned keen on politics whereas attending college, and on the age of 15, he joined the Labour Occasion.
With the aim of turning into a dentist, he pursued A-level research in science and Maths. However he rapidly had second ideas and selected to check legislation on the College of North London. He instantly put his diploma to make use of, working as a trainee solicitor at Christian Fisher in 1994 below human rights lawyer Louise Christian.
He met and married Saadiya Ahmed, a fellow lawyer and coincidentally additionally the daughter of a bus driver, in the identical 12 months. He had two kids together with her, Anisah and Ammarah. Inspired by native activist Bert Luthers, who was born in Guyana, he additionally began his 12-year time period as a Tooting councillor.
Three years later, on the age of 27, he was promoted to fairness associate, and the corporate modified its identify to Christian Khan.
He labored on a number of high-profile circumstances throughout this time, together with serving to to overturn an exclusion order in opposition to US political activist Louis Farrakhan that was externally upheld on attraction and acquiring compensation for lecturers and legal professionals who had been subjected to racial discrimination.
In 2004, he unexpectedly left his authorized apply and instructed the Legislation Gazette that “should you’re in authorities, you are a legislator and you’ve got the chance to make legal guidelines that may enhance issues for hundreds of thousands of individuals”.
Mr Khan, considered one of 5 new ethnic minority MPs elected in 2005, fought for and gained the marginal seat of Tooting for Labour.
When Gordon Brown took over at Quantity 10, Mr Khan was appointed as an exterior whip earlier than being promoted to communities minister.
In 2009, he was promoted to the place of Division for Transport, when he turned the primary Muslim man to serve within the Cupboard. There have been solely 4 Muslim MPs on the time.
In 2010, Labour was out of presidency for the primary time in 13 years after the occasion didn’t acquire sufficient votes.
However Mr Khan continued to succeed, he was chosen as Ed Miliband‘s marketing campaign supervisor and assisted in main Mr Miliband to an surprising victory within the management contest. As a reward, he acquired the submit of shadow justice secretary.
Mr Khan may need been sidetracked by Labour’s dismal efficiency within the 2015 election and the short resignation of Mr Miliband, whom he had assisted in taking the management, however he discovered a brand new function for his campaigning efforts. He mentioned per week after the election that he would run for mayor below Labour and go away the shadow cupboard.
And he beat all odds in 2016, when he acquired 57 per cent of the vote.
Along with being the primary Muslim and ethnic minority mayor of the capital, he turned simply the third ever London mayor.
Following Jeremy Corbyn‘s resignation because the chief of the Labour Occasion and the 2019 UK common election, there have been rumours that Mr Khan would run within the triggered management contest. With a view to run for a second time period as mayor of London, which he acknowledged he was “completely” extra keen on, he excluded himself from the management race. Mr Khan gained a second time period as mayor of London within the 2021 mayoral election.
The query of whether or not Mr Khan will run for a 3rd time period or as a substitute run for election to the Home of Commons within the hopes of turning into the chief of the Labour Occasion has been raised after he was re-elected for a second time period. Mr Khan, nonetheless, declared his intention to hunt a 3rd time period.
Mr Khan turned the primary individual to be elected to a few phrases as Mayor of London when he defeated Conservative opponent Susan Corridor within the 2024 mayoral election.
“The choice to increase the ULEZ London-wide was a troublesome one, however vital to avoid wasting lives, defend kids’s lungs and assist scale back the chance of Londoners growing bronchial asthma, dementia and a number of different well being points.” Khan mentioned on the time.
Reactions to receiving a knighthood
The information has acquired combined reactions, even sparking a debate on social media.
Praising the choice, The Customary’s Ross Lydall mentioned: “Mr Khan is by a ways probably the most conscientious: he’s at all times carried out his homework, mastered his transient, is aware of precisely what he desires to say.”
One person wrote on X: “Congratulations Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan what’s subsequent? 10 Downing Avenue? Is there something this man cannot obtain?”
Nonetheless, former Conservative MP Anna Firth instructed GB Information that “it’s the folks of London that deserve a knighthood for placing up with Sadiq Khan”.
“Inform that to the 15,000 households who’ve had a sufferer of knife crime. He has utterly failed on knife crime and to maintain the streets protected. What has this man really carried out to deserve a knighthood? He is failed everyone,” she added.
Lots of customers on X joined Ms Firth with comparable disparaging feedback.
One person mentioned: “Who else thinks London Mayor Sadiq Khan doesn’t deserve a knighthood?”
One other added: “I’m glad all of us collectively agree that Sadiq Khan doesn’t deserve a knighthood. Shouldn’t even be within the job.”
