Sadiq Khan backs Sir Keir Starmer for Labour leader
Sadiq Khan has endorsed Sir Keir Starmer to be the next leader of the Labour Party.
The London mayor finally came out for the favourite today, after refusing to publicly back any of the leadership hopefuls for the first two months of the campaign.
It also comes after Starmer was the only one of the three remaining candidates to not sign the mayor’s set of “London pledges”.
The pledges included promises to stamp out antisemitism, back more devolution to the capital as a policy platform and to lobby central government for London infrastructure funding.
However, that didn’t stop the mayor from throwing his weight behind Starmer.
Taking to Twitter this morning, Khan said: “I will be voting for Keir Starmer to be the next Labour leader.
“I’ve known Keir for decades. He’s the best person to unite our party, take the fight to the Tories and put Labour in government.”
Khan gave the first hint of his endorsement intentions last week when he told The Evening Standard he would not back Rebecca Long-Bailey for the role, leaving him either Starmer or Lisa Nandy to stand behind.
Starmer said he was “honoured” to have the backing of the mayor of London.
“Sadiq is demonstrating that Labour in power can change lives,” he said.
“I look forward to campaigning alongside him to keep London Labour.”
Khan’s endorsement is reflective of the London Labour Party’s wider support for the Holborn and St Pancras MP.
The shadow Brexit secretary won the nomination for more than 60 per cent of London’s constituency Labour parties.
Starmer won the nomination from a total of 374 local parties countrywide, coming in front of Long-Bailey on 164 and Nandy on 72.
He also also got more union nominations than any other candidate.
Voting has now gone to party members to decide who will lead the party after almost five years under Jeremy Corbyn.
The winner will be announced on 4 April.