londoners are going voting next week to decide whether Sadiq Khan Whoever wins an unprecedented third term or one of his 12 rivals will be given the chance to run the capital for the next four years.
one week ahead Don’t On Thursday May 2, a new opinion poll showed that Mr Khan was clearly in the lead, although with the smallest lead so far in the race.
The Savanta survey for the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London found the Labor mayor at 46 per cent of the vote and her Tory challenger Susan Hall at 33 per cent. But Mr Khan’s lead has almost halved since the election campaign began months ago, with Home Secretary James Cleverley this week accusing him of being “asleep at the wheel” over crime in the city.
As voting day approaches, Independent Went on to talk to Londoners about the issues that affect them and asked what they thought of the candidates.
Across the capital we found people voting dissatisfied with the mayor on a number of issues housing crisis When Mr Khan was first elected eight years ago, he promised to fix the pandemic knife crimeULEZ expansion and regular transport strikes.
Despite the disappointment, however, many people struggled to even consider or name alternatives.
Tevfik Ulusoy, 42, from Lewisham, a watercolor dealer in Covent Garden’s historic Apple Market, took Mr Khan to task over transport issues.
“The attacks are killing our small businesses,” he said. “Everyone is struggling – the train, Tube strike. Buses don’t help as they run slow even in support and reduce services. Strikes have to be stopped. This seems to happen every month. Come on Monday and you will find that there is no one around. It is empty.
“Sadiq needs to find a compromise and help stop them forever. I’m Turkish, and I and my colleagues, I’ve always voted for the Labor Party, but in the last two years they’ve screwed it up.
“I’m thinking of voting Conservative for the first time. I’m angry.”
Asked if he knew what Suzanne Hall meant, he replied: “No, I don’t know who she is, but something needs to change. to be honest [the Conservatives] Will do better.”
Leslie White was visiting the West End with her friend Sue Hannon, near the Surrey border mouse trap For their joint 70th birthday gift.
“Sadiq is a power-hungry, land-grabbing man who wants to expand London,” Ms White said bluntly. “He really wants to expand Ulez, even though he said he doesn’t. In a way, London is becoming its own country and everyone else will be left behind.
“I don’t know who I’ll vote for – I’ll go in, close my eyes and randomly write ‘X’. I don’t see any alternative to Sadiq.”
Her friend Ms Hannon said she feared that small towns on the outskirts of the capital would lose their individuality if the metropolis swallowed them up.
She said: “I want clean air, but my point is I’d rather travel than charge drivers [central London], there should be more park and rides. So take everyone on the bus cheaply.
“I think all politicians are corrupt, so I would probably [the] Greens.”
We spoke to taxi driver Sam Jewell, 57, outside the Ritz Hotel in Mayfair as he waited for a customer.
“I have lived here my whole life, but ever since Sadiq came here, the town has been ruined,” she said. “Every time someone is stabbed or shot, it’s in the news. Shows his face and says it’s horrible, but nothing ever changes.
“He forgets that as mayor he has only two jobs: to be in charge of Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police. He appoints the commissioner, so if anything goes wrong with the police, he is under his supervision. He is always blaming others, he is useless. But I guarantee he will come back in.”
When asked what the replacement was, he was unable to recall Ms Hall’s name, but praised her predecessor, Shawn Bailey.
When reminded who she was, she said: “Good luck to her. But the opposition is not making enough noise. Shawn Bailey was very good, made a lot of arguments but couldn’t win under that system.
“Sadiq’s only achievement is Ulez, in which he removed the congestion charge and expanded it. Now the traffic is troublesome.
“I never saw anyone in the cab say anything good about Sadiq or say they would vote for him, but yet there he is. How does that work?
“Boris was great and kept five of his six promises.”
The cost of housing in the notoriously expensive city is a main concern for many Londoners, owners and renters.
In Clapham Common, architect Alicia Lartey, 24, said: “Affordable housing is the most important thing, especially because wages are not improving.
“He [Khan] Hasn’t worked out well for renters, all my friends are really struggling. Getting on the property ladder is very difficult.
“I work in property listings and most of the places in Chelsea and Knightsbridge have been bought by foreign buyers but are completely vacant.
“It’s a real scandal, especially with so much homelessness on the streets. You have all these vacant buildings lying around, not being maintained. They just want them for a portfolio. No one is allowed in because they are owned and they sit there while everyone else struggles.
“Newly constructed homes meet only the minimum design requirements and use the cheapest materials. You have an excellent area but the flats are small with low ceilings so that more stuff can be placed in them. They look good but the quality is absolutely poor.”
About Mr Khan, he said, “I have not yet decided whom to vote for. I don’t think there’s an alternative to that but I don’t know of any others – I guess I’ll have to research. I think it would be refreshing to see a young person who has struggled to get on the property ladder become mayor.
In Clapham, school counselor Nathan Collins, 37, was more positive about Mr Khan’s free school meals initiative.
He said: “Lambeth as a borough has a big mix between private and state schools. Maybe a change of government will bring more money to our local schools. A lot of them are closing down here.
“For me it would probably be Labour, I don’t think they’ve done a bad thing here.
“Susan Hall is going on the crime but I don’t think it’s dangerous. There are challenges with low-level street crime but nothing too major in my opinion.
“It’s a huge city, and I think the press exaggerates it and makes it seem like it’s really dangerous here.
“Sadiq’s Free School Meals has completely changed the way people interact with education. He has brought such a huge change to the area and our demographics.
“You start to see kids getting together on the Clapham Common basketball court and that’s what London is all about.”
His partner said: “I think Sadiq has done a good job. I wouldn’t say there was anyone else to vote for.”
But for others, rising crime statistics paint a different picture. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday show that knife and gun crime have both increased by 20 per cent in the past year in the capital.
Knife crime campaigner Faron Paul, 38, who collects deadly weapons from young children and passes them to the authorities through his FaizAmnesty Charity, Said that the mayor’s first duty is to keep Londoners safe.
On the same day that a woman was stabbed in broad daylight in Kilburn High Street, he said: “Almost every area of policy driven by City Hall is currently being neglected.
“Our Metropolitan Police force is broken, there is a huge gap between the community and the police, knife crime is at epidemic levels yet it is completely ignored. Our children are dying on our streets every other day.
“If Sadiq would give the same attention and support to knife crime as he does to TfL and ULEZ, we would be able to address this epidemic more effectively.
“He has had eight years to address this situation that has been brought to his door again and again, but he still has not come forward with any kind of realistic plan to tackle knife crime.
“Not unless Suzanne Hall is willing to make real change and make meaningful policy, it will not be safer with Suzanne.”