Sadiq Khan launched his bid to run London today — with a blast at Boris Johnson for being “a red carpet mayor”.
Announcing his campaign for mayor in the Evening Standard, the former shadow justice secretary said he wanted to be seen as “Mr London”.
“For the last eight years you’ve seen a red carpet mayor, somebody who is fantastic going to openings, great with a flute of champagne in his hands,” he said in an interview with editor Sarah Sands.
“I’d rather roll up my sleeves and fight for all Londoners.”
Mr Khan, the Tooting MP, is the fifth Labour name to enter the race to succeed Mr Johnson next year, following Tessa Jowell, David Lammy, Diane Abbott and Christian Wolmar.
The son of a No 44 London bus driver, he ran a legal practice before entering Parliament and is married with two teenage daughters. He said: “I want to be seen as Mr London — as an exemplar of the best of London. A working class boy done good.”
He revealed that he had to take his own copy of the Koran to Buckingham Palace to be sworn in as a member of the Privy Council, and donated it to the Palace for other Muslims to swear the Oath on.
In a controversial opening shot, Mr Khan said he would review the popular Garden Bridge scheme if he won.
“The idea is a great idea, but I think we were sold a pup,” he charged.
“We were promised no taxpayers’ money. We were promised it would be open to the public. We were promised no sights would be obscured. One of the first things I would do is look into the Garden Bridge, its viability and whether it can work.”
He branded Mr Johnson’s Emirates Air Line cable car over the Thames as “a big vanity project”, adding: “Once the contract ends we must seriously consider what we do with the cable car.”
A close ally of Ed Miliband, Mr Khan defended the former Labour leader’s decision to be interviewed by Russell Brand, saying the comic “reaches parts of the country that politicians can’t reach”.
Mr Khan ran Labour’s successful borough elections last year and masterminded the general election campaign in the capital, where Labour did better than in other regions.
“For someone like me, a Londoner born and raised here, being the Mayor of London is the best job in politics,” he said.
