Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Sadiq Khan. Can anyone tell me something positive about what he has done?

592 replies

Luckymum20 · 08/10/2025 19:20

So the past few days I've unfortunately gone down a bit of a rabbit hole of clips about the Mayor of London.

From what I have seen the man is an utter buffoon who has done nothing to improve London, in fact quite the opposite.

Strikes increasing. Homelessness increasing. Crime - off the charts. Congestion zone charges etc.

And don't get me started on the deputy who seems to be from another planet!

I am not from London, so just wondering if anyone at all has anything positive at all to say about this catastrophe of man!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
PandoraSocks · 08/10/2025 20:20

bookworm14 · 08/10/2025 19:32

You might want to ask yourself, OP, why there are so many videos about how awful he is from people who don’t even live in London. What is it about him specifically that makes them so angry?

It is a mystery, isn't it? Often you find that the same people go on about Londonistan and no go areas.

What could the connection be 🤔

LarkspurLane · 08/10/2025 20:20

What a lovely positive thread. Thanks for posting, OP, it's fab to see all these great things about London all in one place.

LizTruss · 08/10/2025 20:20

Luckymum20 · 08/10/2025 20:05

So did Jimmy Savile.

Show quote history

Yes, I know.

Thortour · 08/10/2025 20:21

I’m going on the Bakerloop tomorrow. I’m going to shimmy along the Old Kent Road and glide through Elephant and Castle! I plan to sit on the top deck and wave to the peasants as I hurtle along with silent authority.

EnglishGirlApproximately · 08/10/2025 20:21

Every single person I know who hates Khan doesn't live in London and doesn't visit regularly - the Londoners I know are largely neutral to positive about him, with of course the natural criticism that's aimed at anyone in office.
I'm not a Londoner but a frequent visitor for work and people local to me in the Midlands honestly think I'm likely to get mugged or murdered going to the office for a couple of days! London is a fantastic vibrant city with all of the positives and negatives of capitals the world over, and Khan is leading it as well as can be expected considering the economic challenges.

opencecilgee · 08/10/2025 20:22

Why do people hate him? He’s worked selflessly for years in public service as the MP in Tooting and later Mayor

He could have had a well paid job in legal sector

like previous peiple have said, he introduced the ulez,

hes an honest and decent man. A million times better than his predecessor who was in the job to promote himself

bombastix · 08/10/2025 20:23

Superloop
electric buses
ULEZ

Pedestrianization of Oxford St long overdue. Good idea.

Do not know the Bakerloop!

Nestingbirds · 08/10/2025 20:23

Sadiq is hated in London, only on here is he revered. Free school meals?! No, that was cross party policy. London’s property market is crashing, investors are deserting London and the trains are constantly cancelled due to suicides and strikes. Apart from that it is all going swimmingly.

Mummyoftwinss23 · 08/10/2025 20:24

But apart from ALL that... What good has he done?...

PandoraSocks · 08/10/2025 20:25

Nestingbirds · 08/10/2025 20:23

Sadiq is hated in London, only on here is he revered. Free school meals?! No, that was cross party policy. London’s property market is crashing, investors are deserting London and the trains are constantly cancelled due to suicides and strikes. Apart from that it is all going swimmingly.

If London hates him, why does the electorate keep voting for him?

1990s · 08/10/2025 20:25

RockaLock · 08/10/2025 20:15

Some of the things that PPs have listed as Sadiq Khan’s achievements aren’t his at all.

He became Mayor of London in 2016.

Elizabeth line - construction started in 2009, way before he was mayor. It is purely coincidence that it opened during his term. I mean, if you are going to list that as one of his achievements, you should surely also attribute the 3 year delay and £4bn overspend to him as well. (Yes, I know they were nothing to do with him - but that’s the point, isn’t it).

ULEZ - was proposed by Boris Johnson in 2014 and originally scheduled to start in 2020. Admittedly Khan pushed ahead with it, but it was not his idea.

Some tube drivers are also RMT members and so the RMT does organise underground driver strikes. There have been plenty of tube strikes since Khan became mayor! and as he is ultimately in charge of TfL, yes, they come under his remit. But tube drivers would strike no matter who was mayor, they always want more and more money, so 🤷‍♀️

He’s not as terrible as some people make out, but he’s certainly not as good as some people seem to think either.

Just because someone else “had an idea” doesn’t mean it will then automatically happen…. There is quite a lot of work involved to get these things to actually happen…

bookworm14 · 08/10/2025 20:25

If he is hated in London why did we reelect him three times? It can’t just be mumsnetters voting for him…

Ireolu · 08/10/2025 20:26

Free school meals
Improved air quality. Really noticeable compared to other bustling capital cities.
Bus fares.
Stats suggests Crime has reduced in London this yr.
He has been voted in numerous times by people who actually live in London..

Thortour · 08/10/2025 20:26

If you want a real laugh Google the last Conservative Mayoral candidate Susan Hall. See what she stands for.

Also Shaun Bailey - who was partying with billionaire Nick Candy during lockdown.

MojoMoon · 08/10/2025 20:26

OP, do you have equally strong interest in the activities of Andy Burnham as as mayor of Greater Manchester?

Or if you want to look at a genuine wrong un, you could read a range of high quality well researched journalism into the activities of Ben Houchen, Tees Valley mayor and the Teeswork project.

timestressed · 08/10/2025 20:27

OneDearWasp · 08/10/2025 19:51

Ive read that crime in London is down overall. There are some specific crimes (phone theft and shoplifting) that are up.

I have seen no serious reports blaming an increase in crime on migration.

Ive no first or second hand experience of being a victim or witness of crime.

I have lived in London for most of my 63 years, 25 years of which in Newham which is one of the less affluent parts of our noisy metropolis.

I suspect that the idea that crime is rising and migration is to blame (for this and many other things) are ideas spread by people who ideologically opposed left or centre left politics. Some of thiae people live in St Petersburg

Show quote history

Re: phone theft: "The Metropolitan Police announced on Tuesday that it had dismantled an organised international crime gang responsible for 40 per cent of all phone thefts in the capital." this was in the news yesterday.
Not many people remember that the first thing Sadiq did was to change advertising policy regarding indecent or offensive content of ads on TFL, specifically banning "body-shaming" adverts (those promoting "unhealthy or unrealistic" body images). I remember that as I used to commute to work by train and tube.
OP if you were genuinely interested in finding some answers then your first search result would have been this site. Please go and read it as not all were mentioned so far.
https://sadiq.london/manifesto/sadiqs-top-20-achievements/
Like addimg 1400 emission free busses, half a million new trees planted in London (we have more trees in London than peoplemliving in it! Did you know that? And many mpre initiatives.
You could even go further and read his press releases.
https://www.london.gov.uk/media-centre/mayors-press-releases

Building a fairer, safer, greener London for all.

Read our new manifesto for the mayoral election. Vote Labour 2 May.

https://sadiq.london/manifesto/sadiqs-top-20-achievements/

PinkArt · 08/10/2025 20:27

The obsession non Londoners have with our mayor is really creepy.

Thortour · 08/10/2025 20:28

@Nestingbirds Why do we keep electing him if we hate him?!

Are the bird nesting in your head?

SocksAndTheCity · 08/10/2025 20:28

Do you think comedy racist and swivel-eyed loon Susan Hall would have been a better pick, OP? At least she isn't brown.

Dundeeyounger1 · 08/10/2025 20:30

He's great. Very respected in London and seems a decent man. I approve of the re-naming the Overland too. Sensible from a geographical point of view and the names chosen are fantastic.

LaurieFairyCake · 08/10/2025 20:31

He doesn’t ’hate women’ - maybe he hates Susan Hall cos she’s a fucking arsehole

titchy · 08/10/2025 20:32

Luckymum20 · 08/10/2025 19:53

Show quote history

LOL. This is one of the very many, very tedious, ‘what have the Romans ever done for us’ posts isn’t it?

beAsensible1 · 08/10/2025 20:32

bookworm14 · 08/10/2025 20:15

Honestly, the man is a fairly unexciting, soft-leftish Labour politician who has succeeded in some areas and done less well in others. He’s broadly liked in London, which is the only area where his popularity should be relevant. It’s fascinating and depressing that so many people seem to view him as some sort of moustache-twirling supervillain.

this he's nothing special some good some bad, fairly middle of the road.

But the frothing at the mouth , and "where is Sadiq Khan" about every single normal big city issue is bizarre to watch, especially as it's not from londoners.

they seem to think about him more than we do.

LancashireButterPie · 08/10/2025 20:33

I like him.
He brings communities together, London feels safer and cleaner.
I believe he acts with integrity. Met him once and he seemed a nice guy.