London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday congratulated the newly elected Mayor of New York, Zahran Mamdani, praising his victory and describing it as a victory of “hope over fear.”
In a post on social media, Khan drew a comparison between the political moment in New York and his own trip in London.
“New Yorkers faced a clear choice – between hope and fear – and as we saw in London, hope triumphed. Huge congratulations to Zahran Mamdani on his historic campaign,” Khan wrote in a post on X.
Khan, a Labor Party leader of Pakistani origin, made history in 2016 when he became the first Muslim to be elected Mayor of London. In 2024, Khan became the first person to be elected Mayor of London for a third term.
Khan’s statements seemed to represent a hidden criticism of US President Donald Trump, with whom he had a long public dispute. The two leaders repeatedly exchanged barbs, with Trump calling Khan “the worst mayor in the world” and Khan calling Trump “a racist, sexist, misogynistic, and Islamophobic.”
Mamdani, 34, struck a similar tone of optimism in his victory speech, declaring that New York is “a city for immigrants, built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
Born in Kampala, Uganda, to Indian director Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist lawmaker became the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to lead New York City.
Mamdani’s victory represents a setback for Trump, who has thrown his weight behind Andrew Cuomo, a former Democrat who is running as an independent.
The city’s mayor-elect described himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” and said New York had shown “a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him.”
