Rushanara Ali endorses Sadiq Khan’s London mayoral campaign

Bangla Mirror Desk :

Sadiq Khan revealed that his campaign to be Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London has the support of 14 London MPs and over 150 councillors. Among the MPs is former Public Accounts Select Committee chair Margaret Hodge, Shadow Justice Minister Andy Slaughter and Rushanara Ali, whom Khan had nominated for deputy leader before she withdrew from the race.
Bethnal Green and Bow’s Labour MP Rushanara Ali said:
“Sadiq knows what is needed to win after leading the Labour local election campaign in London, achieving our best results in the capital in more than 40 years.
“Sadiq is the candidate with the background, determination, ideas and ambitions to achieve for everyone in this great city. He represents what is best about modern London.
“He’s the son of immigrants who came to the capital to make a better life. He grew up on a council estate and went to university, before building a successful career as a lawyer and running his own firm.
“Sadiq knows that the same opportunities that London provided to him are today still denied to too many people.”
Welcoming her endorsement, Sadiq Khan said: “I am absolutely delighted to have the support of Rushanara and of so many of my other London Labour colleagues, representing a broad range of opinion from right across the Labour Party and London.
“Together, we can tackle the big issues facing this city and change London for the better.”
The Tooting MP, who has previously served as a Transport and Communities Minister, currently has more support amongst his Parliamentary colleagues in the city than any other candidate, with over a third of London’s Labour MPs flying the flag for the Khan campaign.
Labour members and affiliated supporters living in London will vote to decide who the party’s mayoral candidate should be, with the result set to be announced on the weekend of September 12/13 – the same time the party chooses its new leader and deputy leader.
The latest polling suggests the contest to secure the Labour nomination is shaping up to be a two horse race between Sadiq Khan and Tessa Jowell.
Of the 155 London councillors, eight are council leaders. They include Steve Bullock, the directly elected Mayor of Lewisham, Richard Watts, Leader of Islington, Mo Butt, Leader of Brent and Steve Curran, Leader of Hounslow.
The Tooting MP, who was Labour’s Shadow London spokesman prior to the election, said:
“I am absolutely delighted to have the support of so many of my London Labour colleagues, representing a broad range of opinion from right across the Labour Party and London, from Barking to Brent. Together, we can change London.”

The 14 MPs means Khan has the endorsement of a third of London’s 43 Labour MPs, more than any other candidate so far. The MPs are:
Rushanara Ali MP (Bethnal Green and Bow)
Heidi Alexander MP (Lewisham East)
Lyn Brown MP (East Ham)
Karen Buck MP (Westminster North)
Dawn Butler MP (Brent Central)
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Vicky Foxcroft MP (Lewisham Deptford)
Barry Gardiner MP (Brent North)
Margaret Hodge MP (Barking)
Kate Osamor MP (Edmonton)
Matthew Pennycook MP (Greenwich and Woolwich)
Tulip Siddiq MP (Hampstead and Kilburn)
Andy Slaughter MP (Hammersmith)
Emily Thornberry MP (Islington South and Finsbury)