Khan still waiting to decide if he'll seek fourth term

The London mayor is already the longest-serving in the office but has yet to confirm his intentions ahead of the next election in 2028, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter

Sir Sadiq Khan will wait until next year to announce whether he will step down as mayor of London or go for a fourth term in office.

Khan has refused to give a definitive answer in recent months as to whether he will stand again for the role in 2028. Sources suggest his team is actively preparing for the race in case he does decide to run, but the mayor himself is yet to make a firm decision.

Should he stand down, several Labour MPs – including Dawn Butler and Rosena Allin-Khan – are set to campaign to fill the Labour candidate vacancy.

The mayor last week revealed he will make his final decision in “year three” of the mayoral cycle – equivalent to 2027.

Asked at the annual State of London debate about whether he had made up his mind yet, Khan said: “I will let you know as soon as I’ve decided – at the same time I make it in every cycle, which is probably year three.”

The mayor’s critics – and former electoral opponents – on the London Assembly suggested his record did not warrant another term in office.

Susan Hall, the City Hall Conservatives group leader who ran against Sir Sadiq in 2024, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It’s nice of Sadiq Khan to think he’ll get to wait until 2027 for Dawn Butler to manoeuvre him out of office.

“But Londoners cannot afford another four years of this useless mayor cutting police services, bulldozing green spaces, and missing just about every housing target he’s been set.

“If 2027 is when he’s set his performance review for this job, we’d recommend employment termination.”

Hina Bokhari, who leads the Lib Dem group on the London Assembly, added: “Sadiq Khan should take a long, hard look at whether he can possibly justify running for a fourth term.

“By any measure, life in London has got harder on his watch – a worsening housing crisis, rising child poverty, and cuts to policing. For years he blamed the government, but with Labour in power with a landslide majority, that excuse is gone and Londoners are still waiting for the big ideas and vision our city needs.”

Reform UK’s Alex Wilson claimed his words were a “backtrack” and that Khan is “running scared” of his party’s candidate Laila Cunningham.

Khan has already ruled out an immediate return to Westminster as an MP before the legislative loophole that would allow him to serve both in parliament and in City Hall closes.

Also asked about a run for prime minister, Khan said “that’s the other mayor” in reference to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

“I’ve got the best job in the world, I’m the mayor of the greatest city in the world, I’m going nowhere.”

He said of the Labour government’s struggles: “It’s hard being the prime minister of the UK – I’m on my sixth or seventh, I can’t remember.

“In July 2024, the British public voted for a government to serve five years with Keir as prime minister.

“They’ve made a couple of mistakes – it was a mistake to begin the government by being so negative and not giving a vision of hope. It doesn’t help when the chancellor talks down the country.”

There have also been reports suggesting Starmer will offer Khan a peerage, though allies of the mayor have denied any talks.

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