Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he needs “as much help as possible” from Labour activists in his campaign for re-election. Conservative Susan Hall and at least a dozen other candidates are set to challenge Khan at the London Mayoral election in May.
Speaking to the Labour blog Labour List, Khan said he thinks the race will be “very close”. “Election day is just over 100 days away. We have a lot of work to do together to stave off the hard-right Tory threat in May,” he said.
“The London election is going to be a very close two-horse race. Only myself or the Tory candidate can win, so we’re going to need as much help as possible to fight for a fairer, safer London for all,” Khan added.
The mayor complained that a new electoral system in London could threaten his hopes of re-election. “The cynical way in which the government have brought in major changes to the way Londoners vote to make it easier for them to win, but have done barely anything to ensure voters know about the changes, risks damaging democracy in May,” he said.
The government’s Electoral Reform Act 2022 changed the mayoral voting system in London from a preference system to first past the post. The change, which removes second preference voting, is widely expected to benefit the Conservative candidate because the centre-Left vote might be split between Labour, Greens, Liberal Democrats and other smaller parties.
In previous elections, the votes of smaller progressive parties have generally gone to Khan on the second round in accordance with the preference system.
Though the Mayor has a polling lead over his Conservative opponent Hall, some in Labour fear that a Left-wing challenge could help Hall into office.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who has been prohibited from standing as a Labour candidate, has refused to rule out standing as an independent candidate in the London mayoral election.
Polling in September last year suggested a Corbyn candidacy would split the centre-Left vote and could leave Khan with fewer votes than the Conservative candidate.
There are also fears of complacency from Labour supporters who believe a third term for Khan is assured and therefore might not turn out to vote.
In a speech to the Fabian Society conference, Khan described a double win for Labour in the mayoral and general election as the “greatest prize of all”.
