London’s new mayor Sadiq Khan formally took office Sunday. He’s the first Muslim mayor of London, and comes from a humble background. Born in England, he’s the son of Pakistani immigrants – his mother worked as a seamstress, and his father drove a bus.
The Labour Party politician is already making a splash with comments about apparent Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s views on Islam. Rebecca Cruise, a comparative politics expert and the assistant dean of the College of International Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told KGOU’s World Views the new mayor reflects how much London has changed.
“In the last two decades or so the population of the UK in general, but particularly in London, has essentially doubled of foreign-born residents,” Cruise said. “Some of this comes from their colonial past, obviously, but really also from their role in the [European Union] and the ability of foreign nationals to then come.”
About 12 percent of London’s population is Muslim, but Khan campaigned as a populist who represents everyone. He even says Islamic extremists don’t like him because he represents Western values and opportunity.
But how much opportunity is there in London? With that influx of foreign nationals comes an influx of capital and investment, and London is now one of the most expensive cities in the world. His parents probably couldn’t make a living today. Khan promised to address not just race and religion, but also socioeconomics.
“He said that's going to be a platform of his term,” Cruise said. “He's going to a memorial to commemorate the Holocaust here in the next couple of weeks and has called out members of his own party that he felt had been anti-Semetic. So he is looking to attack discrimination, be it religious, ethnic, or as you said, socioeconomic.”
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