London’s Mayor meanwhile has been steadily getting on with the job and ticking things off his to do list. His perceived competence and confidence in an uncertain world is earning him friends and supporters, with the editor of London’s Evening Standard Sarah Sands saying that London’s first Muslim mayor stands for “social integration, aspiration and kindness,” that he is “here for the long haul”.
Khan’s first job was to declare London as open for business. This was particularly important given the result of the EU referendum. Khan was keen to promote London as the best city in the world and somewhere that is entrepreneurial, international and outward looking.
The #LondonIsOpen campaign highlighted the flow of brilliant ideas and talent from across the globe and aimed to show off a city that is comfortable in its diversity, proud of its history and optimistic about its future. This high profile campaign is great news for the conference and events market as it demonstrates the Mayor’s commitment to welcoming businesses from all over the world to the capital city. London looks well placed to maintain its high position in the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) rankings where it is currently in fifth place for the number of international meetings held and in second place in terms of attendance numbers.
Following on from #LondonIsOpen campaign, the Mayor hosted a meeting at City Hall in October with 17 leading Indian foreign investment companies who between them employ nearly 50,000 people in the capital. In the last ten years London has attracted more foreign direct investment from India than Japan and China, and only the US invests more in our capital. India is a crucial trading partner for London and a significant market for the capital’s businesses, with the value of London exports to India amounting to £1.29bn in 2014.
A key message of Sadiq Khan’s election campaign was that he was the son of a London bus driver, contrasting himself with the more privileged upbringing of his main opponent. So it was fitting that one of his first acts was to introduce a new “hopper fair” for London buses. This means that you can now take two bus or tram journeys for the price of one as long as you make the second journey within one hour.
Khan has also been busy introducing the night tube with five lines of the underground network due to be running through the night on Fridays and Saturdays before the New Year. He has also signed off a couple of new cycle superhighways and launched a Safer Lorries standard. The Mayor has also backed the continued economic growth and expansion of the Royal Docks area around Excel London by giving the green light to London City Airport’s acquisition of public land to expand. This ambitious Mayor also has his eyes on the national rail suburban routes although thus far his pleas to be granted control the London rail network has fallen on deaf ears in national government.
Some insiders at City Hall have described this stage of Khan’s term of office as the post euphoric, pre-delivery moment. There are a lot of reports and inquiries being commissioned with a promise of delivery rather than immediate tangible improvements in people’s lives. Khan is continuing to drive his team at ‘campaign pace’ pushing several stories into the media every day. Opposition members of the London Assembly on the other hand have criticised him for spending £100,000 on reviews into, among other things, ticket offices, river crossings and the London Fire Brigade.
Six months in however, things seem to still be going pretty well for London’s new Mayor with Google’s recent announcement that it will be creating a new £1bn headquarters in London with 3,000 new jobs boosting confidence across the capital. Sadiq Khan may or may not want to be Britain’s Prime Minister one day but for the time being at least he seems to be having a lot of fun being London’s Mayor.
