Sadiq Khan reacts to the Labour general election landslide

Transcript

00:00Mr. Mayor, what was your reaction to the result when you saw the exit poll and the results began

00:04to come in over the course of the night? Look, these results literally are unbelievable.

00:08You know, listen, in my wildest dreams, I couldn't have imagined, if you and I were

00:11speaking in 2019, that within one parliamentary term we'd be not just forming the next government,

00:17but with the majority that we will have, you know, according to the latest predictions,

00:24Labour will have 410 members of parliament, a majority of 170. I've just discovered these are

00:30the best results in London for Labour ever. We think we may have 59 Labour MPs in London.

00:37There are no Conservative MPs in central London or in London. It's a great night for Labour.

00:43And if you had to put it down to a single factor that's caused this

00:45enormous sea change since 2019, what would that be?

00:48Keir Starmer. Keir Starmer is somebody who has changed our party for the better.

00:53He's learned the lessons, the correct lessons, from the worst results since 1935 that we got in

00:582019. He's changed our party, root and branch change in our party, but also he's made sure

01:04we fight these elections in a tactical and strategic way. So, for example, rather than

01:08winning seat A with a massive, massive majority, then losing seat B by a small number, making sure

01:13we have our resources in both those seats. It doesn't matter if we win seat A with a smaller

01:18majority, we can win seat B. What will a Labour government mean for London specifically?

01:23Well, the key thing that I'm looking forward to is constant obstacles not being put in my way.

01:28Working with, not just me as the Mayor of London, but mayors across the country in a collegiate way,

01:34it does not mean a blank cheque from Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer. What it means is an

01:38open, candid relationship. I've already spoken to Keir, you know, during the course of the night.

01:44I was in touch with him yesterday. I only wish we'd have that same sort of relationship with

01:48the Conservative government over the last eight years. You've been lobbying, for some time now,

01:52for a £2.2 billion emergency stimulus to boost affordable housing in London. With this change

01:58of government, you're still going to be lobbying for that money, presumably? Yeah, what I'm hoping

02:01over the course of the next few weeks, before Parliament rises, and I'm really pleased Keir

02:05Starmer has, you know, confirmed he's going to roll his sleeves up and not have a two-month recess,

02:11is Angela Rayner, who's hopefully going to be the Deputy Prime Minister, but in charge of this area,

02:15makes a couple of announcements before recess to make sure we get house building going.

02:19And does it need to involve billions more pounds for the GLA? Yeah, look, I think what the Labour

02:24Party said in its manifesto is they want to build 1.5 million homes in the first parliamentary term

02:31of a Labour government. A large chunk of that should be in London. And what about devolution?

02:35The GLA hasn't really gained any new power since Boris Johnson, since there was a Conservative

02:39mayor and a Conservative government. Do you hope for more powers to be handed down from Westminster?

02:43Absolutely. What I've been pleased about over the last few months is with mayors across the country

02:48meeting regularly with Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves, and I'm hoping that over the course

02:53of the next few days, Keir Starmer's new Prime Minister will be with us to discuss what further

02:57powers and resources can be devolved, not just to London by the way, to mayors and regions across

03:01the country. Is there anything in particular you're hoping for from those discussions? Yeah,

03:05what we're keen to do is to help the Labour government with growth. The best way to get

03:09growth is housing. I also think that one of the best ways we can support businesses

03:14is around skills. And it's really important we have some plan and reform as well.