Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor of London, securing a historic third consecutive term following a dramatic and closely watched electoral contest. Khan’s definitive victory on Saturday afternoon saw him successfully fend off his main adversary, Conservative candidate Susan Hall, maintaining a comfortable majority despite a tense and fiercely contested campaign trail that played out across the capital.
Khan secured 1,088,000 votes, translating to 43.7% of the total share. This gave him a substantial majority of some 275,000 votes over Ms Hall, who finished second with just under 812,000 votes, representing 32.6% of the electorate. According to London Elects, the official body that manages the mayoral and London assembly elections, voter turnout remained relatively stable, dipping by just 1.5% compared to the previous mayoral race in 2021, settling at 40.5%.
The path to victory was not without its moments of anxiety for the incumbent mayor and his campaign team. The process followed a tense Friday night—a period described by Labour insiders as a "24-hour vacuum." This delay occurred because a temporary pause on London mayoral counts created an information void. During this window, excited Tory activists utilized social media platforms to circulate rumors suggesting that Susan Hall was posing a much greater threat than anticipated, while arguing that public polling predictions were "completely wrong."
This social media blitz led some Labour insiders to briefly entertain the possibility that the two primary candidates might finish just a few points apart. However, any lingering apprehension within the London camp was soon dispelled. Khan’s team grew confident of securing another term after Labour captured the North East and West Central constituencies from the Conservatives, flipping the seats more than two hours before the official final result was declared across the city.
Outside the unique political bubble of the capital, however, the electoral landscape presented a more complex picture for the Labour Party. Party figures and leadership were forced to acknowledge that Labour’s stance on the ongoing conflict in Gaza had notably weakened local election support in several Muslim-heavy areas across England.
While Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer celebrated historic and decisive wins on Friday in northern and central regions such as Blackpool, Hartlepool, and Thurrock, he simultaneously acknowledged the need to address voter alienation. Starmer publicly promised to "win back" Muslim support in key areas including Oldham, Newcastle, and Bolton, where the party’s national foreign policy positions had clearly resonated with the electorate in unexpected ways.
Political analysts and commentators noted the stark contrast between the local dynamics in London and those in other parts of the country. A London Conservative MP openly criticized Susan Hall’s mayoral campaign, arguing that it had relied too heavily on channeling a generalized "anti-Khan" sentiment rather than presenting voters with a substantive, positive vision of what she would actually do if elected to lead the city.
The London mayoral result arrived concurrently with a wave of other significant Labour victories in mayoral elections across the north of England on Saturday. Steve Rotheram successfully won the Liverpool mayoral election, Andy Burnham was securely re-elected in Greater Manchester, and Tracy Brabin secured a second term as the mayor of West Yorkshire, reinforcing Labour’s regional stronghold in major urban centers.
Nevertheless, the shadow of foreign policy dissent lingered over the broader election results. The chair of the Labour Muslim Network issued a stern warning, emphasizing that the party still has "so much work to do with regaining the trust of Muslim voters." This erosion of trust was attributed directly to the party’s leadership stance on the Gaza conflict, which appeared to significantly dent local election support in specific communities, alongside a separate, bubbling controversy over internal allegations of Islamophobia.
Ali Milani, a prominent community figure and former parliamentary candidate who famously stood against former Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the 2019 general election, offered a blunt assessment to the BBC. He stated that there was a deep-seated sense of "hurt and betrayal" among many Muslim voters regarding the Labour leadership’s initial hesitation to immediately back an Israel-Gaza ceasefire and its refusal to support an arms embargo against Israel.
The electoral fallout from this discontent was clearly visible in municipal councils across the country. In Oldham, Labour suffered a significant blow by losing council seats to independent candidates across five separate wards, ultimately losing control of the local council altogether. Reflecting on the shift, retiring councillor Paul Fryer told The Oldham Times that while local governance fatigue may have played a part—noting that Labour had held power in Oldham for 13 years—the overarching foreign policy situation was undeniably a critical factor. "In some parts of the borough, it’s the Gaza issue that may lose them the seat," Fryer remarked.
Similar patterns emerged in other northern towns and cities. In Rochdale, Labour lost one council seat while George Galloway’s Workers Party captured two seats, though Labour managed to retain overall control of the local authority. Meanwhile, Labour officially lost control of the council in Kirklees after surrendering five seats. This local defeat followed the high-profile resignation of two local councillors earlier in the year who stepped down explicitly in protest over the national party’s stance on the Gaza crisis.