Metro.co.uk put the Labour Party’s candidate for London mayor Sadiq Khan in the hot seat and asked him your questions.

BoJo’s potential successor told us: ‘I was born and raised in the city, raised on a council estate. My dad was a bus driver and my mum used to sew clothes to make ends meet. London gave my parents the chance to own a property. It gave me the chance to go to university, to own my own business.

‘I worry that today’s Londoners don’t have the same chances. They need a mayor who will get stuff done, not one that will turn up to cut a ribbon.’



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So here’s what you’ll get if you back Sadiq Khan in the red corner next May:

Fair rental prices

Khan said: ‘The cost of rent for most Londoners is unaffordable – forget the cost of buying. More and more Londoners are spending half of their wages on rent, so they’ve got no chance to save a deposit to buy a property. I want to change the way housing works in London.

‘There’s a choice between a mayor that’s going to have business as usual – or a mayor that’s going to challenge developers and have genuinely affordable homes in London – to rent and to buy.

‘I’m going to say to developers – from now on, at least half of all new homes should be genuinely affordable. Either with a social rent, or with a London living rent and for first time buyers.

‘Social rent will be a formula – roughly speaking it will be £120 a week, for those who are lower on the pay scale.

‘London living rent, which will be a third of average earnings in the area. E.g. In Lewisham it’s £2,000, so London living rent would be about £600 per month.’

No to rogue landlords

‘We should name and shame bad landlords. The mayor of New York – Bill de Blasio – has a scheme where he praises good landlords and names bad ones. Some parts of London I’d have a licensing scheme, so landlords would be vetted by local authorities.

‘Last year around 60,000 Londoners left London, to start a family, buy a property. That’s the highest number since records began and it’s a problem for the capital.

‘I’m also going to set up a not for profit letting agency across London. I’d say to landlords give me your home for three years and I’ll give you six months’ rent up front and take care of all the checks landlords usually have to do.

‘And to tenants, I’d say you can sign a three-year tenancy and the rent is only going to go up by inflation. So you know you’ve got a property for three-years, less if you want, plus you know that the rent will be affordable. That should drive down the cost of housing in London.’



A chance to actually get on the property ladder

‘As a parent I’m worried about my children’s ability to buy a property in London because unless you’ve got bank of mum and dad, you’ve got no chance.

‘My worry is that London is being hollowed out – it’s going to end up that only the rich live in the city and the less well-off have to leave.

The Labour candidate added: ‘I’ll make sure there are affordable homes with rent to buy schemes. I want to make sure there is a real pick and mix for Londoners. At the moment developers build the homes they want and they tend to be bought by investors overseas.

‘I have nothing against foreigners, but it’s not right they’re getting first dibs on our homes – that should go to Londoners.’

Wi-Fi on public transport

‘In Brighton they’ve already got Wi-Fi on buses and some of our Tube stations are covered – so there’s no reason why we couldn’t. When you go on holiday, especially in Europe, there’s free Wi-Fi in public spaces – why haven’t we in London?

‘We should be working with the private sector to provide it.’

Cheaper and more reliable transport

Khan told us he wants to introduce a new scheme where you won’t be financially penalised for changing lines or buses. For example, if you have to hop on a connecting bus or Tube you will only pay for one journey, as long as it’s within an hour.

Adding: ‘In the time it’s taken London to get one cross rail, Paris has had five. We need to think about infrastructure going forward.


‘It’s a big issue for businesses, a big issue for Londoners. People getting from home to work. Our Tubes are the most expensive in the world – they’ve gone up in the last seven years since Boris Johnson’s been mayor.

‘In my first term as mayor we’re going to freeze Tube, Overground and DLR fares and announce a cut in bus fares.

‘You don’t pay again and again, you just check in once with your Oyster. So basically you just pay once within an hour. This should help those in outer London.’

And those of you who are sick of sweating it out on the Central Line will be pleased to hear his plans for a crossrail.

Khan told us: ‘We’re also going to invest in public transport. We want two crossrails – one from east to west and another north to south. It will speed up connections. We’re also thinking about extending tram services and the Bakerloo Line.’

Increased safety for cyclists

‘I worry hugely about the risks to cyclists. We want the number of people cycling to increase, so we need to make it safer. I’m happy for more of the budget being spent on segregated cycle lanes.

‘And during rush hours – in the morning and evening – we shouldn’t have HGV lorries in central. That will also reduce congestion.’

To encourage people to, get on their bike (so to speak), Khan is planning to implement cycling proficiency in schools. He also recalled: ‘When I was minister for transport, we persuaded the treasury to give tax breaks for employers to give loans to buy bikes and I’d like to do more of that.’


Going green

Khan said: ‘We’re looking at environmentally friendly buses. The current vanity project by the mayor and his new buses – the windows don’t open, the hybrid cells don’t work. We need electric buses.

‘We’ll get a grid up in London so we can have more electric cars. We should be thinking about environmentally friendly sustainable transport.

‘I want to be the greenest mayor we’ve ever had.’

Expecting more

If Sadiq Khan beats Conservative Party candidate Zac Goldsmith in the mayoral election, he promises Londoners he’ll do more than his predecessor.

He continued: ‘I like Boris Johnson he’s a good laugh, my biggest criticism of him is he gives the impression that all a mayor does is turns up, cuts a ribbon, makes some jokes and acts like a buffoon.

‘I think mayors can do a huge amount – I’ve met with mayors all over the world from New York to Delhi to Berlin. Look at what Ken Livingstone did in his first eight years as mayor.

‘I think it’s possible for a mayor to fix the housing crisis. It’s possible for a mayor to ensure if you do a hard day’s work you get a good day’s pay. It’s possible for a mayor to protect our environment and make sure our air is safe to breath. I want Londoners to realise mayors can do a huge amount and Londoners have a big choice in May whether they want a mayor who takes it as a serious job.’

Sticking with the EU

Khan wants to stay in the EU, he explained: ‘I’m not sure what Zac Goldsmith stands for, that’s for him to set out. But I think Londoners should be worried about a candidate who’s against the European Union. The EU brings jobs to our city, benefits in fighting terrorism, climate change and the refugee crisis. It’s a big concern.

‘I’m going to vote against the housing bill, what’s Zac Goldsmith going to do? Is he going to stand up for Londoners or his party?’

Tory mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty)

Finally Khan told Metro.co.uk: ‘I know how stressful it can be worrying about making ends meet. I know the aspirations people have to own their own homes and worries about not being afford to rent.

‘Worrying about still being in a job in 12 months’ time, worrying about who’s nicking your food from the fridge because you’re still living in a flat share in your late twenties. Not being able to go out three weeks into the month. Still paying off your student loans. I know what it’s like, I’ve walked in your shoes.’