'Hope won': London Mayor Sadiq Khan hails Mamdani's 'historic' election win
“New Yorkers faced a clear choice — between hope and fear,” Khan wrote on social media. “And just like we’ve seen in London — hope won.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has congratulated Zohran Mamdani on his election victory in New York City, calling it a "historic campaign" and a triumph of optimism over fear.
"New Yorkers faced a clear choice — between hope and fear," Khan wrote on social media. "And just like we've seen in London — hope won."
With Mamdani's win, the two largest cities in the UK and the US are now led by liberal, Muslim sons of immigrants — both rising to prominence by countering the growing rightward shift in their respective countries, reports The New York Times.
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According to senior advisers, Khan had previously spoken with Mamdani following his Democratic primary victory to personally offer his congratulations.
Despite their shared heritage and experiences with Islamophobic attacks, the two leaders differ in their politics — Khan represents Britain's Labour Party as a centrist, while Mamdani is known for his progressive left agenda.
Both have been the targets of hate campaigns and Islamophobic rhetoric.
In Mamdani's case, social media posts used 9/11 imagery to discredit him in the final week of campaigning. Similarly, before Khan's first mayoral victory in 2016, his opponent's campaign invoked terrorism-linked imagery to question his loyalties.
In his victory speech last night, He said that he would fight against "the scourge of antisemitism" and as well as show that New York is a city where Muslims "know that they belong," adding, "No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election."
