So far, so good – but Londoners will soon want to see progress on key policy areas, including housing, transport and policing

As Labour nationally sinks into an internecine slough, it is easy to forget how emphatically it passed its biggest electoral test since the general election as recently as 5 May this year. Sadiq Khan’s triumph over Conservative Zac Goldsmith strengthened Labour’s dominance in the capital despite a heavily negative Tory campaign.

In his first 100 days at City Hall, while assembling his team and pressing ahead with initiatives on policing, air quality and the workings of Transport for London (TfL), much of Khan’s focus has been on lobbying the Conservative government for resources and devolved powers to nurture London’s economy.

The uncertainties caused by Brexit, which Khan strongly opposed, have added urgency to this: the prime minister, Theresa May, will be well aware that the UK depends heavily on London’s generation of wealth and taxes. Khan, who said early in the election campaign that he intended to be “the most business-friendly mayor of all time”, has responded to the EU referendum outcome by joining with the City of London and others in a campaign to demonstrate that “London Is Open” for global trade and visitors as before.

It is now impossible to imagine anyone more suitable for his job Evening Standard

A backdrop of the shock of Brexit in a city that voted 60% to remain and Labour’s turmoil under Jeremy Corbyn may have enhanced Khan’s honeymoon, with even the Evening Standard, which facilitated many of the Goldsmith campaign’s attacks, declaring in a recent feature that it is now “impossible to imagine anyone more suitable” for his job.

Claims that Khan, an observant Muslim and former civil rights lawyer, had provided, in Goldsmith’s word, “cover” to Islamist fanatics in the past, now seem as shrill as they had felt menacing at the time. Apart from calling Donald Trump’s view of Islam ignorant and being the star speaker at the annual Eid event in Trafalgar Square, Khan’s religion has become a background theme. Addressing the Pride in London parade and giving senior jobs to women have underlined his social liberalism. A self-declared “proud feminist”, he has announced an end to “body–shaming” adverts on the Tube and bus network.

Soon he will need bigger achievements. This Friday’s launch of a 24-hour service on two of London’s underground lines is a delayed Boris Johnson policy. Khan’s new “hopper” bus fare, which will allow passengers two journeys for the price of one within a 60-minute window, will start in September, though Khan has faced claims that his pledge to freeze public transport fares for four years was misleading, as it will not, as things stand, apply to travelcards, whose prices are set by the Department for Transport. More detail about his affordable housing plans is awaited, and Londoners will soon be looking for evidence of solid progress in all key policy areas.

Sure-footed start but trials ahead: Sadiq Khan's first 100 days as London mayor Read more

Devolution

Khan is seeking more control for the mayoralty and London’s local authorities over investment in housing and transport, the running of health and social care services, skills and further education, property taxes and suburban rail services in order to use the capital’s resources better. He has revived Johnson’s London Finance Commission to look at further powers that might be devolved. Khan has demanded a seat for London at the Brexit negotiations, stressing the importance of continued full access to the European single market. He likes the idea of a London-only work visa for migrant workers.

Housing

Khan’s choice of housing chief, James Murray, perturbed some commercial developers, housing associations and even other Labour boroughs, who saw the former Islington councillor as an oppositional left hardliner. However, Murray has been bringing his grasp of London’s complex housing equations to bear on the practicalities of delivering more “genuinely affordable” homes to rent or buy – a forthcoming more stringent definition of “affordable” than used by Johnson or the government – and building bridges across the housing sector.

A manifesto goal of making 50% of all new homes “genuinely affordable” has been mildly finessed into a “long-term strategic target” and Khan has so far declined to set a straight numerical target. But an intervention in the vast Old Oak redevelopment scheme in the west of the city to increase the affordable element planned there showed intent, and he is eager to get building on public land, notably sites owned by TfL. Persuading Jules Pipe, the mayor of Hackney, to become his planning deputy should help pull all the development threads together as Khan tries to meet soaring demand for not only homes but also schools, health facilities and transport infrastructure.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Val Shawcross, Khan’s transport deputy, is a champion of public transport. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

Transport

Former Labour London assembly member Val Shawcross is Khan’s experienced choice as transport deputy. She has committed to introducing a long-awaited pedestrianisation scheme in Oxford Street by 2020, along with more active travel initiatives (essentially, walking and cycling). Shawcross is a champion of public transport – especially the somewhat neglected bus service – and understands the complex, some say opaque, finances of TfL, which Khan wants overhauled.

Policing and security

Khan countered campaign claims such as that by the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, that he was unfit to be mayor at a time of terrorist threat because he had in the past criticised British foreign policy, by proclaiming himself “the British Muslim who will take the fight to the extremists”. He has welcomed the forthcoming increase in armed police patrolling London. In line with a pledge to strengthen community policing, he has vowed to introduce a second dedicated beat constable to each of London’s 629 electoral wards by the end of 2017.

Air pollution

A consultation has been conducted on proposals for reducing the number of polluting vehicles driving in London, which has serious air quality problems. Khan has already been bolder than Johnson, producing plans that include extending and bringing forward implementation of the central London ultra low emission zone. This has pleased environmentalists, though they will watch carefully to see how far he eventually goes.