I’ll always be mayor for all Londoners, says Sadiq Khan

Published

3 years ago

May 10, 2021

Newly elected London major, Sadiq Khan has said he is humbled by his election for a second term, promising to always remain a mayor for all Londoners.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan won the election by beating Conservative rival Shaun Bailey.

He won 55.2% of the popular vote, after entering a run-off with Mr Bailey when neither managed to secure a majority in the first round of voting.

The former MP became the first Muslim mayor of an EU capital city when he was elected to the role in 2016.

He spoke at the City Hall, pledging “to strain every sinew to help build a better, brighter future for London”.

The Green Party’s Sian Berry came third, while the Liberal Democrats’ Luisa Porritt was fourth.

The Lib Dems lost their deposit, as Ms Porritt failed to win more than 5% of the vote.

Elsewhere on Saturday evening, Labour lost overall control of Durham County Council while the Tories continued to make inroads in their traditional heartlands.

Sadiq Khan: ‘I never wanted to be a culture war poster boy’

Mr Khan was seen as the favourite throughout the campaign, with some pollsters predicting he would win more than half of the first-round votes.

The 51-year-old failed to reach his record-setting vote total of 2016, but won with a 228,000-vote majority.

Khan’s closest rival was Mr Bailey, who received 44.8% of the first and second-round votes, and increased the Conservative vote share by 1.6%.

Speaking after the results were announced, Mr Khan said, “I will always be a mayor for all Londoners, working to improve the lives of every single person in this city.

“The results of the elections around the UK show our country, and even our city, remains deeply divided.

“The scars of Brexit have yet to heal. A crude culture war is pushing us further apart.”

Aregbesola no longer member of APC, says ex-Osun commissioner

Published

10 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Trends Admin

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola

Aregbesola no longer member of APC, says ex-Osun commissioner

The immediate past Osun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Adebayo Adeleke, has said ex-Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, is not a member of the All Progressives Congress.

Adeleke served as a commissioner in the cabinet of ex-governor Adegboyega Oyetola, currently serving as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.

He spoke at the Osun Central Senatorial meeting of the APC held in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

The APC chieftain said all serious party members in the state were aware that Aregbesola was not currently a member of the party.

Aregbesola no longer member of APC, says ex-Osun commissioner

Politics

Senate in rowdy session as lawmakers quarrel over sitting arrangement

Published

4 days ago

April 30, 2024

Trends Admin

Senate in rowdy session as lawmakers quarrel over sitting arrangement

The Senate broke into a rowdy session on Tuesday after three senators engaged in a heated argument over arrangement of seats.

Danjuma Goje, senator representing Gombe Central, and Sahabi Yau, senator representing Zamfara North, expressed displeasure over the seats assigned to them.

They complained to Opeyemi Bamidele, the majority leader.

The Senate is currently using its refurbished chamber, two years after renovation began on it.

According to the standing rules of the upper legislative chamber, senators should sit in order of rank.

The Easter and Sallah recess was postponed to accommodate the completion of the renovation of both chambers of the national assembly.

However, while Senate President Godswill Akpabio read his welcome address, the heated argument among the three senators began.

It was learnt that Goje and Yau, sitting on the second row on the right side of the aisle, did not like the seats allocated to them by the senate committee on services.

Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, is chair of the senate services committee.

The four-term senators subsequently insisted that they should have been assigned seats on the front row on the extreme right — opposite the row of the majority leader and the deputy senate president.

After the argument, Kawu Sumaila, senator representing Kano South, called for a “point of order” which was ignored.

Thereafter, Bamidele moved a motion for a closed-session.

Politics

Ganduje drums support for Tinubu, says no vacancy in Aso Rock 2027

Published

4 days ago

April 30, 2024

Trends Admin

Ganduje drums support for Tinubu, says no vacancy in Aso Rock 2027

National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, says members of the opposition are trying to discredit the Bola Tinubu-led administration in their desperation for Aso Rock in 2027.
He however declares that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2027.

Ganduje said the administration of President Tinubu had been contending with accumulation of many years of neglect, policy summersaults and other disjointed decisions by previous administrations.

The APC national chairman gave the position while addressing supporters and support groups at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.

Ganduje urged the APC supporters and groups to be committed to the party so that it could continue to forge ahead.

He said the leadership of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and its chieftains were afraid, having been defeated in the last general election and already foreseeing another defeat.

Ganduje said the NNPP elements were now engaged in a propaganda campaign against the leadership of APC.

He said, “They are so afraid because we are consolidating. They are so afraid all over the country because we are receiving new entrants into our party. That is creating fears in their minds.

“They are already eyeing 2027, but at that time, there is no vacancy. Only our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will, Insha Allah, continue as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Ganduje claimed the leadership of NNPP and its chieftains in Kano State were sponsoring protests and campaigning for his removal as APC national chairman.