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…
Dawn Butler is set to announce her London mayoral campaign this Wednesday, according to PoliticsJOE’s Ava Evans. Sadiq Khan is still mulling whether to go for a fourth term…
Guido members will have seen this coming. From Guido Whispers on 10th April:
A New Dawn: Speaking of the London mayoralty, Dawn Butler was spotted hanging around near the Green Party HQ earlier this year. There is speculation she was trying to organise some sort of non-aggression pact amongst the left to run for Mayor of London. She denied that she was defecting to the Greens herself. Although a pact that clears the way on her left flank might be a different story…
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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has told broadcasters this morning he has not decided whether to run for a fourth term. When asked by Sky News and the BBC, Khan said: “Ask me again in a year’s time.” Delay, delay…
As of June last year the line was: “Sadiq hasn’t decided yet if he’s standing again at the next mayoral election… this is the same as the last election cycle when he didn’t announce his decision until much later in the mayoral term.” Khan announced his intention to stand for a third term in January 2022 – 28 months before the election in May 2024. It is now 28 months until the next mayoral election in May 2028. Khan’s self-declared deadline has passed…
Khan is already the only Mayor to serve three terms. Last time he was asked in September he implied he was leaning towards running again. Is he waiting for the offer from some jumped-up UN climate body before he decides…
Sadiq Khan has jetted off to Brazil this week to boast about how clever he is and complain about having “one hand tied behind [his] back” by a Labour government that hasn’t sufficiently backed his green agenda. To prove this point, he has flown around 5,750 miles to Rio de Janeiro, for a total round trip of 11,500 miles…
Ahead of the C40 World Mayors Summit, which Khan is set to co-chair this year, the Mayor of London said:
“I can’t understand how we’ve lost the art and ability to explain to people what we’re doing… [The public] can smell somebody who’s inauthentic. And I think you should be authentic. People respect somebody if you’re authentic. There are people who voted for me in the last mayoral election who may not agree with ULEZ but they respect the fact that I have got good intentions, but I also explained to them why we’re doing the ultra low emissions zone, the fact that in London we’ve got thousands of premature deaths…”
He went on to say the cabinet should be more enthusiastic about net zero and “it can’t just be the Ed Miliband show.“ For an entourage of five, the total greenhouse gas emissions pumped out for this trip will be around 27.7 tonnes…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”