Khan easily sees off Tory rival to win record third term

LABOUR’S Sadiq Khan has stormed to victory in the London mayoral election.

Incumbent mayor Khan beat his nearest rival, Tory candidate Susan Hall, in a contest beset by criticism of his decision to expand London’s ultra-low emission zone.

It is the first time any candidate for London mayor has won a third term of office, with Khan’s predecessors Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone both having served two terms.

With 106 out of 107 of the local councils declared yesterday, Rishi Sunak’s party had a net loss of 396 councillors, and the loss of 10 councils.

Labour won control of eight councils with a net gain of 231 seats, while the LibDems gained 97 seats and the Greens 64.

However, Keir Starmer’s party has suffered setbacks amid a backlash over its stance on Gaza.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, was among the senior party figures who conceded Labour’s approach to the conflict in the Middle East had led to the losses, but said they would work to “earn votes back in future”.

The party failed to regain control of Oxford after a string of prominent defections over its messaging on the Gaza crisis, and in a similar blow, lost control of Oldham Council in Greater Manchester to independents.

Labour also lost council seats to independents in Blackburn with Darwen and Bradford, while George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain gained from it in Manchester and Rochdale.

Cooper told BBC News: “We do strongly recognise there are areas where we have had independent candidates who have been particularly strongly campaigning on Gaza and where there is really strong feeling about this issue, because tens of thousands of people have been killed.

“It is just devastating to see what is happening, which is why we need an immediate ceasefire and for hostages to be released and why we hope some progress will be made in the negotiations.

“We do recognise the strength of feeling that there is and of course we will continue to work just as we do in every area across the country to earn votes back in future.”

Elsewhere, Andy Burnham vowed to “make big things happen” after he was voted in for a third successive term as the mayor of Greater Manchester.

He said he would continue to take a “place-first approach” as opposed to a “party-first approach”.