London Mayoral Elections 2016: 5th May

Since the first London Mayoral Elections in 2000, there will no incumbent candidate running for the re-election. The current mayor Boris Johnson will not try for a third term in office having been elected as an MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip – he had bigger plans in PM David Cameron’s Cabinet.

The election is on 5th May 2016 is again expected to be a two-horse race with the main contenders being Conservative candidate, Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park and the Labour Party candidate Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting. But as recent elections have shown, voting patterns are as not as straight forward as pollsters have suggested. Other names in the mix include Peter Whittle of UKIP and the controversial figure of George Galloway as a Respect Candidate.
There are a host of talented women candidates. London has had two female mayors in the past but never an elected woman mayor. The recently established Women’s Equality Party (WE) has put forward five of the seven female candidates. They are Georgina Bednar, Alisa Lockwood, Harini Iyengar, Kate Massey-Chase and Sophie Walker. There are other notable female candidates Caroline Pidgeon of the Liberal Democrats and Sian Berry of the Green Party.
Most of the focus in the traditional rivalry between Labours vs. Conservative. So London may have to wait a bit longer for their first elected female mayor. So what are the two main contenders offering (please see the HMB Infographic)?

Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan is counting on his working class background and being born in London understands the plights of his fellow Londoners. Mr Khan is the Labour MP for Tooting since 2005 with his roots from British Pakistani background. He is a solicitor by profession having graduated from the University of North London. His official political career began when he got elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Wandsworth in 1994. He made national headlines in 2008 when the Prime Ministers at the time Gordon Brown appointed him as the Minister of State for Communities. He became the second British Pakistani to serve in government. After that, Mr Khan served as Transport Minister. He also served in the Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband.

Zac Goldsmith

Zac Goldsmith is a journalist who since 2010 has been the Conservative MP for Richmond Park. He comes from one of Britain’s wealthiest families which to some, puts him at a disadvantage with the London’s working classes who are expected to empathise with Sadiq Khan. Mr Goldsmith was Editor of The Ecologist magazine and an avid campaigner on environmental issues. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Quality of Life Policy Group in 2005, co-authoring its report published in 2007. Whatever happens in this mayoral election, Mr Goldsmith is expected to rise through the ranks of the Conservative Party and a future role in the Cabinet.

So what factors are playing in the background?

The 2016 mayoral election will have some key factors impacting on how people vote. There is the ethnic and faith link with Sadiq Khan, a Muslim coming from a British Pakistani background competing with the wealthy upper class typecast of Mr Goldsmith. The Conservative have the advantage of the Boris factor who is still popular and can Mr Goldsmith be able to continue the gauntlet. On the other hand, the Labour Party are in a tremendous change and will Londoners want a change with a person who understands them. It is a difficult election to predict and who knows some can dream about the first female mayor – it is an era of unpredictablity!

Who will you vote for?

HMB is doing a poll – please tell us who you are likely to vote for? click here

Tagged on: London Mayor election