Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, is to launch a plan to create 150,000 “high-quality, well-paid jobs” by 2028.
The plan will be unveiled by Khan on Wednesday alongside the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who will declare that a Labour administration will “reset” the relationship between national government and London.
Khan, who is seeking to boost his re-election campaign ahead of the London mayoral contest on 2 May, will unveil what he is calling the London growth plan, which he says will be developed in close collaboration with councils, businesses and trade unions.
It includes asking the Mayor’s Fund for London – a charity that champions opportunities for young Londoners from low-income backgrounds – to work with private sector partners to help poorer people get into the jobs market.
The plan will focus on levelling up within the city, with a focus on small businesses and outer London as well as the Central Business District.
The jobs are intended to be created by securing new investment for London, growing successful small and mid-sized businesses into bigger companies and attracting new firms to the capital.
While seeking to boost growth in well-established sectors of London’s economy, it will also champion growing sectors including AI, cyber, health and life sciences and creative industries including fashion, film, games, music and TV.
“London’s economy is now growing faster than any other region of the country, but we’ve been held back by years of economic failure, incompetence and uncertainty by successive Tory governments,” Khan will say.
“London has so much more potential that can be tapped – not only for the benefit of our capital city, but the whole country.”
He will provide details of the plan on a visit to King’s Cross, where Reeves is expected to say a Labour government would “put an end to the Tory government’s damaging and counterproductive approach of talking London down and not valuing the vital contribution it makes to our national economy”.
Khan told the Labour shadow cabinet last week that his re-election as mayor “hangs in the balance” despite polls showing he is about 25 points ahead of his Conservative rival, Susan Hall.
He told Keir Starmer’s team that he was “under no illusions” he could lose against Hall in spite of his commanding lead, partly because the voting system has changed and new rules introduced require that voters show ID.
Khan is overwhelmingly likely to win a third term as London mayor but his camp is concerned that his supporters may choose not to turn out if they think his victory is in the bag.
