Sadiq Khan | Carl Court/Getty Images FORUM After Boris, Mayor Khan for London? The Labour son of a bus driver takes on a Tory multi-millionaire.

LONDON — In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when my brother and I were pupils at Hillbrook Primary School in Tooting, south London, there were two main secondary schools that children of immigrants who couldn’t afford private school applied to — one outstanding, the other not so much. We were lucky: My brother, three years older than me, got into Graveney School, and their sibling policy meant I gained entry a few years later. Years of excellent education followed — and also relief, particularly among our parents, that we avoided the dreaded second choice: Ernest Bevin School.

This was no mere school: It was a hotbed of controversy, the staple of local news reports about drugs, gangs and local hoodlums, whose vandalism and graffiti was a notorious aspect of Tooting in that time. To avoid Bevin, as it was commonly known, was not only a boon to life chances, it was also an excellent way to avoid mixing, frankly, with the wrong sort.

Today, Ernest Bevin is a very fine secondary school, having achieved the sort of turnaround that was the hallmark of state education in the early years of New Labour. An excellent new leadership team and huge, visible investment in infrastructure and teaching resources has brought with it a fresh and positive ethos. Its phoenix-from-the-ashes story resonates now not simply because it shows why bad schools needn't be lost causes; but rather because it is in those ashes that the character of London's likely next mayor was formed.

Sadiq has always cast himself as the Tooting boy who done good, and with every justification.

Never lose sight of the fact that Sadiq Khan is a Bevin boy, as we sons of Tooting still call its alumni. He was sitting exams there at a time I can well remember, when its reputation was yet to plumb the depths my brother and I heard about, but when it was no walk in the park.

Sadiq, who on September 11 trounced bookies' favourite Tessa Jowell in the race to become Labour's candidate for mayor of London next year — when Boris Johnson is stepping down — has always cast himself as the Tooting boy who done good, and with every justification. He often reminisces about Bevin in our occasional meetings — usually at my prompting, I confess — and appreciates the fact that his school was named after one of the most celebrated of trade unionists and Labour MPs. Ernest Bevin was foreign secretary in Clement Attlee's post-war government, which is worshipped by Labour members today because it created the modern welfare state and the NHS.

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Much has been made of the backstory of Sajid Javid, the Tory business secretary whose parents came to Britain with barely a penny in their pocket. Less well known is the fact that Sadiq, one of eight children, was the son of a bus driver and seamstress. Before Bevin he went to Fircroft Primary school, just yards away; afterward, he studied law at the University of North London, in preparation for a brief academic career, and a much longer one as a human rights lawyer. This metier, as someone professionally engaged in effecting justice and standing up for the rule of law, has been a fine one for countless politicians, of course; in Sadiq's case as in so many others, it equipped with him with the intellectual rigor to form strong arguments, a record of standing up for the oppressed and, more recently, a brand. Over the past few weeks he has said he wants to be “London’s advocate” — a clear reference to his lawyerly past, and also a smart way of reaching beyond his base.

That base is very much Tooting. When the veteran MP Tom Cox stood down ahead of the 2005 election, Sadiq — and we ought to call him by his first name, given that privilege is conferred on other mayoral candidates (Ken [Livingstone], Boris, Zac [Goldsmith]) — became his successor with a comfortable majority. He swiftly became the first Muslim to attend full cabinet in British politics, a remarkable achievement given the context of terror attacks on London and the aftermath of the Iraq War. His politics didn't fit very neatly into the Blair-Brown dichotomy that ruled the New Labour years; but as a bright young thing who entered parliament at a time when power was finally shifting from Blair's lot to Brown's, he fell in with the latter's crowd. Helped by chairmanship of the Fabian Society, he became a torch-bearer for the social democratic wing of the party, and engineered its takeover of central office through his close friendship with Ed Miliband.

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It was quite a gamble, in retrospect, for Miliband to make Sadiq the manager of his leadership bid, because the latter's campaigning nous was then largely untested. But this would be the first of a trio of remarkable victories that have marked Sadiq out as perhaps the most effective campaigner of his generation in parliament.

It’s easy to forget now that David, not Ed, Miliband was the clear favorite for the Labour leadership. But a week or so before the younger brother's shock victory was announced, he started ringing newspaper editors who were yet to endorse a candidate and tell them baldly, “But X, you don't seem to realize, I'm actually going to win.” He could do this with confidence, because of the numbers Sadiq presented to him. It's well documented that David had the lead among both MPs and party members, but it was the third component of Labour's electoral college — the unions — that won it for Ed. And just as John Prescott had been Blair's mediator with the unions, so Sadiq performed that role for Ed — building relationships that would pay back handsomely years later.

Rewarded for his loyalty and success with the post of shadow lord chancellor and shadow secretary of state for justice, Sadiq already had one eye on the mayoralty, a possibility he had discussed with his closest aides as far back as 2010. Miliband was in on the conversation, and gave him the additional responsibility of being shadow minister for London. This allowed him to champion causes and command policy briefs that would be precious when he came to stand for mayor this year. It also allowed him to score the second of his three remarkable campaign wins.

“He never loses” — Labour Party adviser.

Put in charge of Labour's general election strategy for London, Sadiq boosted the ground operation in key marginals, and ruthlessly demolished the credentials of Green Party candidates who were threatening to cost Labour several seats. Come May 8, Labour were trounced nationally as the Tories secured a shock majority in defiance of the polls. But London was the exception: The party actually increased its control of London, taking 45 out of the capital's 73 constituencies. This included targets such as Brent Central and Enfield North, and the consolidation of the narrow 2010 wins in places like Hampstead and Kilburn.

In this as in Miliband's campaign, Sadiq played the roles of the Davids Axelrod and Plouffe — senior adviser and campaign manager — rolled into one. But for his latest trick he would play the candidate as well.

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When Sadiq told me, over a coffee in parliament earlier this year, that he intended to stand for mayor, I was struck by the sharpness of his political instincts. He was highly alert to the complaint of many MPs that he was too close to Miliband, meaning that if Miliband failed at the general election — which he did — it would probably pull Sadiq down with him. For this astute tactician, the benefits outweighed the costs, and that was that. Similarly, when considering whether or not to nominate Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership — which he did, though he eventually supported Andy Burnham's candidacy — there was plenty of advice in his ear warning that this would be disastrous. But reading the runes, and trusting his superior instincts, he knew that the gamble could pay off handsomely. Last week, it did.

“He never loses,” said one Labour adviser I spoke to over the phone. And on the evidence of the past decade, that's right. I am surprised indeed to see the number of Tories on Twitter who presume that Jowell's loss to Sadiq for Labour’s mayoral nomination is good news for their party and specifically Zac Goldsmith, the likely Tory candidate. They underestimate the boy from Bevin. He has advantages over them they are yet to comprehend; and, on close inspection, some of his supposed weaknesses don't count for much.

These weaknesses are said to include his dependence on the sectarian, ethnic minority vote, which will associate him in the minds of some voters with the likes of the corrupt former mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman. This frankly racist assertion wouldn't carry much weight if it wasn't for the fact that the camps of Sadiq's Labour rivals were putting it about that he went round the mosques of London trading votes for favors with community leaders. It just doesn't add up. Sadiq has taken strong positions against the wishes of some Muslims — his support for gay marriage led to death threats — and if you look at his victory against Jowell, he won in all three categories: among trade unions, the party membership, and £3 affiliates (who can register online for instant party membership).

Then there is the argument that he will be portrayed in the media as part of the loony left, because his fortunes are now tied to Corbyn. Sadiq is part of a triumvirate, so this thinking goes, with Corbyn and his deputy Tom Watson, who want to take the Labour Party galloping over the socialist hills.

The trouble with this view is that Corbyn is hugely popular in London, and because Scotland is gone for a generation, Labour desperately needs to keep London on board. Therefore, association with Corbyn — and his fan base of hundreds of thousands of social media users — may actually be a decisive advantage for Sadiq. Moreover, a few too many Tories are forgetting that the renegade George Galloway is also running for mayor. This will allow Sadiq to occupy the kind of soft left terrain that, on the basis of the results in London, is where much of the city sits.

This is his basic pitch: London provided for him and his family; but now it is in danger of failing a new generation.

“Soft left” is one cliché that could be used to describe his politics; another is “aspiration.” Just as the north London area of Holloway is key to understanding Corbyn's politics, so Tooting is key to understanding Sadiq's. He feels that society, the state and London all provided the security for his family that allowed him to chase his dreams. His dad worked in public transport; the family lived in a council house; the teachers at Bevin — funded by government — raised his horizons. His vision for London is one in which government and the state provide security for those who lack it, so their children may aim high, and one day be mayor.

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On behalf of POLITICO, I asked Sadiq recently what his unique offer to Londoners is.

“Too many Londoners are being left behind by our city's explosive growth. I understand the challenges they face because I've lived their lives,” he told me. “My parents moved to London as immigrants. My six brothers, sister and me grew up on a council estate, my dad drove a London bus and my mum sewed clothes to help support us. I was only able to succeed because of the opportunities London gave me. A council home which meant my parents could save for a deposit. A fantastic state school education. A university place based on my grades rather than our ability to pay.”

This is his basic pitch: London provided for him and his family; but now it is in danger of failing a new generation. “I worry that today's Londoners won't have the chance to have their potential fulfilled like my family did. I am determined to ensure all Londoners have the opportunity to succeed and participate in London's growth.”

One of his most trusted advisers, Leah Kreitzman, has been by his side through several of those successful campaigns (full disclosure: She is a schoolmate of mine). “We had volunteers from all over London join the general election campaign in 2010 because it was a Tory target seat, but they came back in 2015, and again for the mayoral selection — Sadiq inspires great loyalty from people,” she told me. “His campaigns are always a true reflection of London — young and old, all races and faiths. He has a unique ability to bring people together.”

That will be his primary task both during the campaign, and if he becomes mayor of an ever more diverse city. How will his opponents attack him? Through caricature, principally. Changing his mind on a new runway at Heathrow — which Sadiq now, like Goldsmith, opposes — was probably judicious, but it struck some as shallow and opportunistic. He is not yet a household name; and his impish disposition and detailed policies have yet to be tried out on most Londoners. He doesn't have £300 million by way of personal fortune, as Goldsmith allegedly does, and which could come in handy. And now that he's a candidate, he can't be a senior adviser and campaign manager to himself.

These are hurdles that can be overcome. “Always quietly confident” was his message to me when I got in touch after his nomination was announced. The truth is that everyone in his camp was surprised at the scale of the victory. The Corbyn wave is real and Sadiq is surfing it. Victory next year is far from guaranteed of course, because the Tories will throw everything at him. But that a Bevin boy could even be a contender to enter City Hall suggests a special — if as yet largely unknown — political talent.

Amol Rajan is editor of the Independent of London.

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