Sadiq Khan Hails Mamdani’s Win as a Triumph of Hope
Two weeks before his election victory, Zahran Mamdani stood in front of a mosque in the Bronx. There, he delivered the most personal speech of his campaign—a speech that seemed to have taken months, perhaps years, to prepare.
A few days ago, a New York radio host suggested that Zahran would be overjoyed if another 9/11 occurred during his presidency. This was the culmination of the rising tide of anti-Muslim hatred that Mamdani has faced since announcing his candidacy last year.
Zahran’s response was defiant. He spoke of his pride in his faith. He spoke of the climate of fear he, like other New York Muslims, has faced throughout his life. He recalled the advice of a community elder who suggested that if he wanted to succeed in politics, he would be better off keeping his religion private.
The speech required courage. Zahran could have chosen to remain silent and spend the last two weeks of the campaign focusing on his core messages, ignoring his critics’ attempts to soften his tone and exploit his faith for personal gain. But sometimes, we must stand up and say: Enough!
Unfortunately, this is an experience I know all too well. I have never defined myself as a Muslim politician, but rather as a Muslim politician. My decision to run for Mayor of London was driven by one thing only: my determination to improve the lives of people in my city—the city I love, the city that has given me everything. During my first campaign for Mayor of London, I promised to be a mayor for all Londoners. Yet, time and again, my opponents sought to define me solely by my religious beliefs. Days before my election, my main opponent published a newspaper article accusing me of sympathizing with terrorists, accompanied by a photograph of a double-decker bus destroyed in the horrific London bombings of July 7.
These attacks continued. Instead of opposing my decisions as mayor as those of a politician they disagreed with, a small, albeit blatant, minority attempted to ridicule them as those of a Muslim man. Just last month, the President of the United States claimed in his address to the United Nations General Assembly that I was trying to impose Sharia law in London!
It is difficult not to see these bizarre claims as evidence of a growing fear among President Trump and his allies that this kind of toxic policy will fail in places like London and New York. Having Muslim mayors in both cities is exceptional, but—in two of the world’s most diverse cities—it’s irrelevant. We didn’t win because of our faith, but because we addressed voters’ concerns, rather than playing on them.
In recent years, we’ve heard a growing number of commentators and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic attacking cities for their liberal values. They paint a picture of a lawless, chaotic society and advocate the same old authoritarian solutions—from deporting hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants by revoking their right to remain, to deploying the National Guard to suppress dissent. But ask most Londoners or New Yorkers, and this narrative doesn’t resonate.
They don’t care where your family is from or which religion you worship. They’re proud of their city’s diversity and don’t choose their politicians based on their faith, race, or culture. They choose them because they want bold, ambitious policies that are commensurate with the scale of the challenges their cities face. They want greener cities, where they can walk without worrying about breathing polluted air. They want fairer societies, where their income doesn’t dictate their children’s life chances. They want help with the cost-of-living crisis. And they want a more prosperous economy where growth leaves no one behind.
Mayor Mamdani and I may not agree on everything. Many of the challenges facing our cities are similar, but not identical. But despite our policy differences, what unites us is fundamental: our belief in the power of politics to change lives for the better.
For decades, skeptics predicted the decline of London and New York. But every time we’ve faced a crisis of confidence, we’ve emerged stronger. This isn’t just because of the City or Wall Street, the West End or Broadway, Wimbledon’s verdant gardens, or the vibrant blue acrylic paint of Flushing Meadows. It’s because London and New York are cities where the dream of social mobility still lives on.
Today, the affordability crisis means that dream is under threat. But the election of Mayor Mamdani shows that New Yorkers—like Londoners—understand that the answer is not to abandon the values that define us. Rather, we must defend them, with policies that protect the fundamental promise of our cities: that, regardless of who you are or where you come from, you can achieve anything. While some seek to turn back the clock on progress, we stand firm. In our cities, fear and division will not get you far. Hope and unity will always prevail.