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Sadiq Khan will fly to the United States and Canada next month where he will meet senior politicians - and the Clintons - on his first foreign trip as Mayor of London.

The mayor hopes to seize the opportunity to create business links between London and the US cities and to show London remains open for business despite Brexit.

Mr Khan will kick off his five-day tour in Montreal where he has been invited to address a global summit by new Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

He will travel to Chicago where he will meet Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former White House chief of staff, and then to New York for a sit-down with Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The finale of Mr Khan’s first international trip will be sharing a platform with Chelsea Clinton at a Clinton Foundation conference, raising expectations he will also meet her parents.

Hillary Clinton will be out on the campaign trail as the US Presidential election enters its final frenzied weeks, but there are hopes at City Hall the Mayor could meet her husband.

Mr Khan’s predecessor Boris Johnson held talks with Mrs Clinton on a mayoral visit to New York last year - despite previously claiming she resembled a lunatic asylum nurse.

The new mayor’s decision to focus on North America for his first trip is in contrast to Mr Johnson’s early trade missions to China and India.

His deputy for business, Rajesh Agrawal, will lead a trade mission of 25 London tech firms and join the Mayor for key meetings with major business players.

London is the leading global city for US foreign direct investment globally, with almost 8,500 US owned companies here and the total trade of goods £11.5 billion last year.

Mr Khan’s talks with liberal city leaders will touch on how to tackle top shared priorities of housing, regeneration and the growing tech and cultural industries.

In Canada, the popular new PM has made his mark globally by appointing a gender balanced cabinet, attending Pride celebrations and for his prowess on social media.

He is thought to have been impressed by Mr Khan’s positive message about openness and social integration after his election as the first Muslim mayor of London.

Mr Khan will appear alongside him at the Global Progress Summit which is trying to shape a clear agenda on global challenges, from climate change to the global refugee crisis.

In Chicago, the Mayor will make a major speech on social inclusion and visit a regenerated riverfront walkway - linked the financial district - as well as meeting businesses.

He will round off his visit in New York at the opening plenary session of the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2016 summit, hosted by Chelsea Clinton.

He will attend a baseball game with the sporting chiefs to make the case for US sport coming to London, as well as visiting some of city’s affordable housing developments.