Sadiq Khan has been fined a total of £340.84 for failing to pay tax on a 24-year old Nissan Micra. A car Lord Khan / Sir Sadiq insists he doesn’t even own…
Court records reveal Khan was prosecuted by the DVLA after the annual car tax expired in September 2025. Somehow the tax bill was sent to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant in East London rather than TfL’s offices. A DVLA investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, Sadiq continues to deny paternity of the poor blue Micra…
UPDATE: The fine has been withdrawn. A spokesman for Khan said: ‘This is a scam, which is a crime. It’s not the first time the mayor has been victim of a scam involving people falsely stating that Sadiq is the owner of a vehicle. Such behaviour is illegal, and the DVLA are aware.”
Westminster councillor and former Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner Festus Akinbusoye has announced his campaign for the Tory candidacy in the London mayoral race. The second to go over the top after James Cleverly threw his hat in the ring over the weekend…
Akinbusoye said this morning:
“I’m a fresh face. I’ve not been part of a government in the past, but I come with solid private sector experience, having set up a small business with the help of the Prince’s Trust… I strongly believe that Londoners will at least listen to a Conservative candidate who speaks their language, who has lived their story, and who is all about delivering for them and getting London working for them again…”
Cleverly obviously walks in with the name recognition and Cabinet experience, although as Guido reported last month, polling from Opinium shows that a “fresh face” might have an advantage…
New YouGov data shows that 56% of Londoners don’t want Sir Sadiq / Lord Khan to stand for a fourth mayoral term. Including almost a third who voted for him in 2024…
Most Londoners also think the capital is a worse place to live than it was a decade ago, even if Khan himself thinks saying so is some kind of right wing conspiracy. He still hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll stand again. David Lammy watches from the shadows, waiting…
Sadiq Khan took nine GLA staff with him – on the taxpayer’s dime – to Japan and Singapore in June to “court investment” from companies. Sources in City Hall say it is well known that Khan is extremely bored in his job, hence all the jollies…
The trip, much like Khan’s others, consisted of him turning up and declaring that London is ‘open for business.’ The GLA said in its justification for the trip:
“The mission was the first Mayoral visit to Singapore since 2014 and to Japan since 2015 and included a delegation of 28 London-based companies from the fintech, cyber and creative technology sectors.”
Carting nine staff around on long-haul flights will cost the taxpayer tens of thousands as well as presumably hurting the environment.
In Singapore Khan said one of his achievements was that he “announced a major new £7m campaign to promote London to international tourists and investors and fight back against harmful disinformation against the capital.” The Met is losing officers thanks to funding reductions, by the way…
The taxpayer has fronted tens of thousands for Sadiq Khan to host African businesses in City Hall after he flew to African countries last year for a ‘trade mission.’ Could all of this have been a Zoom call?Khan travelled to Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa with eleven staff last year at a cost of over £80,000 and earlier this year hosted a summit to bring “together investors, entrepreneurs and businesses from London and Africa to showcase London, strengthen opportunities for both inward investment and outward expansion, and underline London’s commitment to one of the world’s most important long-term growth regions”. The Mayor’s office said:
“The final costs of the London-Africa Business Summit are still being reconciled, but are expected to total around £28,000. These costs covered catering, production, and BSL interpretation and palantypists. No costs were incurred for travel, staffing or security.”
London taxpayers – who have shelled out over £100,000 on Khan’s Africa stunts – have yet to find out if Khan wants to run for mayor again. Crossing their fingers…
The early battle lines are being drawn for the 2028 London mayoral race. New polling from Opinium suggests if the Tories even want to be viable, they would perform better with a fresh candidate from outside Westminster than with a former minister. No one has thrown their hat in the ring yet. Expect Guido’s runners and riders soon…
The polling put the Conservatives on 17% of first preferences, level with Reform and behind Labour on 32% and the Greens on 18%. On those numbers, the Tories don’t make the final run-off…
That said, the voters most open to switching are those currently backing Reform, of whom 29% would consider a Tory, and Labour, on 20%. Respondents were shown two hypothetical Conservative candidates. One was an entrepreneur, and the other had spent more than a decade as a government minister. Asked which they would rather vote for, 37% chose the entrepreneur, compared to 20% for the ex-minister…
The survey also shows 36% naming crime and policing as one of London’s biggest problems and as the issue the Mayor can most influence. Of course, there’s also the question of whether Sir Sadiq / Lord Khan decides to stand for a fourth term. Opinium’s data shows 51% of Londoners think the city is heading in the wrong direction, and Khan’s own approval rating stands at -7. Does David Lammy fancy his chances? He’s not as busy as he used to pretend to be…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”