"From his office overlooking the Thames on the eastern fringes of the capital, Khan says the biggest lesson he has learned in his time as mayor is to be a coalition builder. I'm somebody who's quite pugnacious. I used to be a litigation lawyer, so I'm quite adversarial, he says. But my experience as mayor has taught me that actually working together achieves far more. He says the winning coalition of voters that has helped him triumph three times at the polls includes Tory remainers, Greens, Lib Dems, Labour supporters."
"It is really important to say I am all in favour of building a coalition of the willing if we have a similar north star, the fact that you are from a different tribe to me, that should be by the by. Let's work together because we love this city. Coalition building may be Khan's takeaway from his decade in City Hall but others have taken a different view."
"Khan has been mayor for longer than either and at the last election easily saw off his latest Tory challenger. Still less well known than his predecessors, the leftwing radical Ken Livingstone and the divisive Tory populist Boris Johnson, Khan, the son of a bus driver from south London, has remained a constant. Through it all, London has been rocked by tragedies ranging from terror attacks to the Grenfell Tower fire."
"The first Muslim mayor has faced a torrent of racist abuse that has only risen in recent years. Khan in a video criticising Donald Trump in 2019. Photograph: Elle/PA He has been repeatedly attacked by Trump, who told the UN general assembly in 2025 that Khan was a terrible, terr"
Sadiq Khan has served as mayor of London for a decade, remaining in office through major political and social changes in the UK and the US. His tenure spans leadership shifts, Brexit, and London tragedies including terror attacks and the Grenfell Tower fire. Khan emphasizes that his experience has taught him to be a coalition builder rather than an adversarial figure. He describes himself as pugnacious due to his background as a litigation lawyer, but says working together achieves more. He credits a broad coalition of voters—covering Tory remainers, Greens, Lib Dems, and Labour supporters—for his repeated electoral success. He argues that shared commitment to London matters more than differences in political tribe.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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