Sadiq Khan re-elected as London Mayor despite criticism over rising crime rate

London, May 4 (IANS) Incumbent Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party was re-elected as the Mayor of London for a record third time on Saturday, defeating Conservative Party candidate Susan Hall by over a million votes. 

Voting was held on May 2 across the 14 London Assembly constituencies, and the results were declared at the City Hall.

London's mayoral election generated quite a bit of interest considering that Khan has been accused of going soft on crime - from thefts, shoplifting, and robberies to attacks involving knives - and also widening the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) which imposes a daily charge of 12.50 pound on non-compliant polluting vehicles operating in a selected territory of the capital city.

Hall, who promised to "get a grip" on crime in London, accused Khan of closing 36 police stations and failing to hire more than 1,000 police officers. She also repeatedly listed stats showing how the crime rate has surged since Khan took over as the London Mayor in 2016.

"He has failed London. If Sadiq Khan stays in power, he will take that as permission to keep on ignoring you," she said during her campaign.

The Tory candidate promised "getting the police out solving crimes again", saying that she would recruit 1,500 more police officers, set up two new police bases in every borough, bring back borough-based policing, and take firm, targeted actions against knife crime, women’s safety and theft.

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, one of the most outspoken critics of Khan, also took repeated jibes at the London Mayor while highlighting the rising crime rate in the city.

"Gotta go into London today. NO WATCH and a plastic ring! Congrats, Sadiq Khan!" he posted on X with a photograph of his left hand, last month.

"This bloke has been in charge for years now and all of this London nonsense has been on HIS clock. Blame everyone else, Sadiq Khan - we all know what the greatest leaders DON'T do," Pietersen said in another post in March in response to Khan saying that keeping Londoners safe was his "number one" priority.

Many experts were keeping a close eye on London's mayoral elections considering that the country, which has had five Conservative Prime Ministers since 2010, is expected to go to polls later this year.

"It's time to turn the page on Tory decline and usher in a decade of national renewal with Labour," Labour Party MP Keir Starmer wrote on X.  

A day before the Mayoral elections, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had urged Londoners to back the Conservatives highlighting the rising crime, taxes, and the ULEZ issues.  

--IANS

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