London Mayor Khan slams foreign investors for leaving homes empty

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

(Image credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

By The Week Staff

last updated 26 May 2016

London mayor election 2016: who is Zac Goldsmith up against?

2 October

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The son of a Pakistani-born bus driver, Khan was brought up on a council estate in Earlsfield and later became a human rights lawyer. He has been the MP for Tooting since 2005 and was shadow justice secretary for five years until he stood down earlier this year. Announcing his plans to run for mayor, Khan accused Boris Johnson of ignoring swathes of London. "I don't want to be a zone one mayor. Also, I don't want to be a red-carpet mayor," he said. "For the last eight years you've seen a red-carpet mayor, somebody who is fantastic going to openings, great with a flute of champagne in his hands. I'd rather roll up my sleeves and fight for all Londoners."

The MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston has confirmed that he wants to stand as Boris Johnson's successor. Goldsmith increased his majority from 4,000 to a "whopping" 23,000 in this year's general election and had been under growing pressure to stand from Conservative figures including Johnson himself, says Politics.co.uk. The 40-year-old directed and edited his family's Ecologist Magazine for a decade before he became an MP and continues to raise funds for conservation and environmental campaigns. The Evening Standard says Goldsmith could become "a huge headache" for David Cameron, because of his "forthright opposition" to Heathrow expansion. Goldsmith has also previously campaigned for a more localised, democratic planning system; to give more power to the public to recall their MPs; and for an increase in measures to improve conditions for cyclists.

Sian Berry will be a familiar face to followers of Green politics, having stood for Mayor in the 2008 elections. This time around, the environmental campaigner is hoping the upturn in the Green party's fortunes on a national level will resonate with London voters. "Our city is in crisis thanks to inequality, dirty air, and a broken housing system. But London is full of communities, movements, and campaigns [that] are building a new kind of politics," she said on her campaign website.

NHS worker Lindsey Garrett made headlines last year after Russell Brand joined her and 92 other families from the New Era Estate in Hackney to successfully protest against their eviction. Now she is running for mayor with housing rights at the heart of her manifesto, reports Housing magazine. She is standing for a new political party Something New, which registered with the Electoral Commission in March this year and stands for "optimism", "true democracy" and "the elimination of poverty". Her campaign calls for rent control and a mandatory London Living Wage; approval of the Heathrow airport expansion; and a single, integrated NHS for London.

Independent candidate Siobhan Benita told the BBC that she would run in 2016 barely hours after finishing in fifth place in the 2012 mayoral election, with just 7,860 fewer votes than Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick. Born in Wimbledon, Benita grew up in Merton and spent 15 years working in several government departments as a senior civil servant. Three years ago, her manifesto included a freeze on travel fares and reductions for students and people earning less than the London Living Wage. She also wanted 20,000 homes a year built for sale or rent at no more than half of commercial rates - and to create dozens of new primary schools.

The controversial Respect Party politician said he would run for mayor if he was not re-elected as MP for Bradford West. He subsequently lost his seat to Labour's Naseem Shah by more than 11,000 votes and his confirmed his plans to join the race. Born in Dundee, Galloway became a Labour MP in 1987, but the prominent anti-war campaigner was expelled from the party in 2003 and later became the figurehead for the Respect Party. He also made headlines in 2006 after he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in a leotard pretending to be a cat.

The Muslim son of a bus-driver born and raised in London, Kamall lectured MBA students in international business strategy, foreign investment and international trade at Leeds University Business School before he became a Member of the European Parliament representing London in 2005. In a recent interview with Conservative Home, Kamall was forthright in his views about the party. "The Right fail I think because we say 'Cut taxes, and everything will be fine.' But the people who live in many of [the poorer] communities are not the rational economic agents you read about in textbooks."

The deputy mayor for policing and crime announced last year that he wants to succeed Johnson at City Hall. He says his brand of Conservatism is about "freedom, duty and opportunity rather than privilege and where you came from" and he thinks Londoners need a mayor who "gives a hand-up not a hand-out". As mayor, he would allocate more funding for policing and reduce Tube fares. He has also highlighted how he cut council tax five times in six years while leader at Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

London Assembly member Andrew Boff has gained an "always the bridesmaid" reputation after attempting to run as the Conservative mayoral candidate three times before, says LabourList. During his time on the Assembly he has headed an investigation into housing overcrowding and published reports on violence against sex workers, housing on the Olympics site and end-of-life care. He has previously said that housing is the most important issue in London.

The former England and Arsenal defender said he thought he could bring something different to the world of politics. "I'm going in with my eyes wide open," he told The Sun. "I know I'm not going to be a frontrunner. But I look at people who have been in politics for five, ten, 15 years, and muck up. You see them muck up and think 'You guys are supposed to be pro!' People that have gone to Oxbridge, had thousands spent on their education, and I mean they are royally mucking up." The 40-year-old was born in east London to Jamaican parents and began his footballing career with Tottenham in 1992. He previously said he wants to spread more of the wealth from central London through to the surrounding boroughs and see more politicians from ethnic minorities. "I come from a working-class background, it wasn't easy for me at all, but I worked hard," he said. "And now it's about giving something back."

Roe, the leader of Westminster City Council, pledged a "devolution revolution" if she was to win the mayoral election race. She thinks the London Mayor should pass powers on to local town halls, with boroughs taking responsibility for issues such as unemployment. She told the Evening Standard: "I do not want to be a Mayor that sees power remain with central government or City Hall. The boroughs play a vital part in delivering services to their residents, they are one of the most efficient parts of government and they should be allowed to do more for the benefit of all Londoners."

The financial services entrepreneur and gay rights campaigner was born in Brighton and moved to London 25 years ago. "Dyslexic, adopted and with no 'silver spoon' to count on, I was determined to make my own way and London was generous in the opportunities it offered me," he said. Massow resigned from the Conservatives in 2000 in a bid to make the party focus on repealing Section 28, which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools as a normal family relationship, but he returned under David Cameron's leadership. His policy proposals included increased devolution for London, a tax on tourists and a lower limit for stamp duty in the city. A recent promotional video – in which Massow asked to live with Londoners for a night so he could better understand them – was described as "buttock-clenchingly awful" by a fellow Tory, LBC radio presenter Iain Dale. The entrepreneur has since been dropped from the race.

Haley initially served as a Labour councillor in Haringey before defecting to the Lib Dems in 2010. He caught the attention of the national press in 2009 when he was forced to apologise for referring to a female colleague on Haringey council as "a trifle". Haley told Lib Dem voice: "I believe I will generate media interest as I have a good story to tell and will improve Liberal Democrat representation across London as Mayoral candidate in a hugely multi-cultural city."

A former Islington councillor from 2002 to 2010, Marisha Ray has served on the governing body at City University and vied to become MP for Chipping Barnet in May. Before the general election she told local newspapers in Chipping Barnet: "The Tories bribed the voters with a one per cent council tax cut before the last local elections. They are now adopting a slash-and-burn policy towards our libraries to make up for the lost revenue." Ray finished fifth in the election behind UKIP, the Greens, Labour and the Conservatives.

Reynolds is another Lib Dem former councillor who stood in this year's general election. After ending up in fifth place, he turned his attention to the London Mayoral candidacy, producing his own website – thefuture.london – where he outlined his campaign for a "a better future for London". Reynolds, who has worked with the British Ambassador in Afghanistan on security and development issues, said he wanted to tackle London's "severe skill shortages", build a network of all-weather cycleways and reduce rail fares for long commutes.

Brooks was one of the more well-known Liberal Democrat candidates, having been friends with murdered 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence. He was with Lawrence when he was killed in a racist attack at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993, making him the main witness in the case. Brooks later became a councillor for the Lib Dems in the London Borough of Lewisham in 2009. He has been a strong defender of London's black cabs and had made that the focus of his campaign. He told ITV News: "People come to London to ride in black taxis. It's an experience and we are going to lose that experience if we allow organisations like Uber and others to destroy our black taxi heritage."

Jowell, who stepped down as MP for Dulwich and West Norwood this year, has indicated in the Evening Standard that her priorities will be better care for children and tackling inequality. Born in Marylebone but largely educated in Scotland, Jowell was first elected to parliament in 1992 and served as Culture Secretary from 2001 to 2007. After emerging as a key figure behind London's bid for the 2012 Olympics, she was made a Dame in the Queen's Birthday Honours List three years ago for services to politics and charity.

The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington became the UK's first black female member of parliament at the 1987 general election and is seen as a "strong potential rival", says the Financial Times. Abbott unsuccessfully contested the Labour leadership in 2010, after which she was promoted to shadow public health minister until October 2013. She claims she lost her frontbench position because she refused to toe the Labour Party line on Syria and immigration. Abbott, who prompted a race row in 2012 following a comment on Twitter, has said if she was mayor she would make London "a fairer place and a better place and stand up for intrinsically London values".

The MP for Harrow West was first elected in 1997 and held the position of international development minister under the last Labour government. He has been chairman of the Co-operative Party for the last 15 years and is also a member of the Fabian Society, writing on social responsibility and a low-carbon economy. He supports three football clubs: Harrow Borough, Wealdstone and Arsenal. Writing for The Guardian, Thomas said he wants London to have tax-raising powers equivalent to those handed to Scotland in order to deal with "the tragedy" of the capital's poverty.

The Tottenham MP has promised to place affordable housing at the heart of his campaign and be a more "inclusive" mayor than Johnson and his Labour predecessor Ken Livingstone. The former universities minister was praised for his response to the London riots in 2011, which started in Tottenham. Lammy, who holds a law masters from Harvard Law School, was elected in 2000 at the age of 27, making him at the time one of the youngest MPs in two decades.

The author and transport commentator entered the race back in 2012 following the last mayoral election. His main concerns are housing and transport, and he wants to see a more "affordable, liveable and sustainable" London, which includes plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street. He has campaigned against rail privatisation for the past 20 years, is opposed to HS2 and is in favour of keeping Tube stations staffed. He grew up in west London, in his spare time plays cricket and tennis "badly", and is a lifelong Queens Park Rangers fan.

The party's deputy chair announced that she would stand as a candidate in August. Evans was responsible for Ukip's general election manifesto and served as de facto party leader when Nigel Farage temporarily stepped down in May. She has acknowledged that her party is unlikely to win in the mayoral election but claimed it was "time for London to have a different view". Before joining Ukip, Evans worked for BBC Radio, in public relations and as a Conservative Party councillor.

A barrister and former Scotland Yard police inspector, Richard Hendron stood for parliament in Brentford and Isleworth in May and came in third with 5.6 per cent of the vote. The champion canoeist and openly gay Ukip candidate was behind Ukip's controversial decision to take part in this year's Pride in London parade. Hendron, who says he does not "remotely fit into any of the Ukip stereotypes", says he would introduce a five-year freeze on the cost of Underground travel and attempt to legislate against Tube strikes.

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