Sadiq Khan was knighted by King Charles (Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has today been knighted. It follows criticism from senior Conservative politicians and a mammoth petition with 220,000 signatures to prevent it.
The Knighthood was announced on 30 December last year alongside a number of politicians named in the New Years Honours list. However, nearly 30 petitions have been submitted and rejected to revoke his Knighthood, as per the UK Parliament Petition website. The 220,000-strong petition read: “Our once thriving capital is now divided and stagnant, and all under his watch.”
It added: “We’ve seen Khan continuously deflect responsibility and accountability, blaming everybody but himself. Our beloved city is in an expensive paralysis, consistently interrupted by strikes.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy congratulated Sir Sadiq, saying that he was proud that the UK was “a place where you can go from being the son of a bus driver” to being a knight of the realm.
He also congratulated policies to make London’s air cleaner, built more council homes, and delivered free school meals.
However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Londoners will “rightly be furious his track record of failure is being rewarded”, citing levels of knife crime in London, missed housing targets and soaring council tax.
He added: “By rewarding the failing Sadiq Khan, Keir Starmer has shown once again that for Labour it is Party first, country second.”
According to the knife crime organisation, Ben Kinsella Trust, 31% of all police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument were recorded by the Metropolitan Police Service, up to December 2024.
London rents increased by an average of 32% in five years from 2019 to 2024, according to analysis of 286,939 samples by rental website SpareRoom.
When the knighthood was announced, Khan posted: “Truly humbled to have received a knighthood in the King’s New Year’s Honours.
“I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I’d one day be Mayor of London. It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love.”
Speaking about Conservative criticism, told the PA news agency: “Unless they’ve done a new year’s resolution, it won’t be the last time they criticise me.”
