Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, and numerous other political leaders are reportedly expected to be knighted in the New Year's honours list.
After more than 20 years as a Labour politician, Mr Khan, who was elected to a third term as London Mayor this year, is set to be given the accolade.
Emily Thornberry, the chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and former Labour Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt will also receive a damehood, according to a document obtained by the Financial Times.
The Cabinet Office did not comment on the speculation on honours.
Early years as a lawyer
The mayor didn't come from a wealthy family. Raised on a housing estate in south London, he was one of eight children born to Pakistani immigrants who worked as a seamstress and bus driver.
He initially became interested in politics while attending school, and at the age of 15, he joined the Labour Party.
With the goal of becoming a dentist, he pursued A-level studies in science and Maths. But he quickly had second thoughts and chose to study law at the University of North London. He immediately put his degree to use, working as a trainee solicitor at Christian Fisher in 1994 under human rights lawyer Louise Christian.
He met and married Saadiya Ahmed, a fellow lawyer and coincidentally also the daughter of a bus driver, in the same year. He had two children with her, Anisah and Ammarah. Encouraged by local activist Bert Luthers, who was born in Guyana, he also started his 12-year term as a Tooting councillor.
Three years later, at the age of 27, he was promoted to equity partner, and the company changed its name to Christian Khan.
He worked on several high-profile cases during this time, including helping to overturn an exclusion order against US political activist Louis Farrakhan that was externally upheld on appeal and obtaining compensation for teachers and lawyers who had been subjected to racial discrimination.
In 2004, he unexpectedly left his legal practice and told the Law Gazette that “if you're in government, you're a legislator and you have the opportunity to make laws that can improve things for millions of people”.
Mr Khan, one of five new ethnic minority MPs elected in 2005, fought for and won the marginal seat of Tooting for Labour.
Labour
When Gordon Brown took over at Number 10, Mr Khan was appointed as an external whip before being promoted to communities minister.
In 2009, he was promoted to the position of Department for Transport, when he became the first Muslim man to serve in the Cabinet. There were only four Muslim MPs at the time.
In 2010, Labour was out of government for the first time in 13 years after the party didn’t obtain enough votes.
But Mr Khan continued to succeed, he was selected as Ed Miliband's campaign manager and assisted in leading Mr Miliband to an unexpected victory in the leadership contest. As a reward, he received the post of shadow justice secretary.
Mayor of London
Mr Khan might have been sidetracked by Labour's dismal performance in the 2015 election and the quick resignation of Mr Miliband, whom he had assisted in taking the leadership, but he found a new purpose for his campaigning efforts. He said a week after the election that he would run for mayor under Labour and leave the shadow cabinet.
And he beat all odds in 2016, when he received 57 per cent of the vote.
In addition to being the first Muslim and ethnic minority mayor of the capital, he became just the third ever London mayor.
Following Jeremy Corbyn's resignation as the leader of the Labour Party and the 2019 UK general election, there were rumours that Mr Khan would run in the triggered leadership contest. In order to run for a second term as mayor of London, which he stated he was “absolutely” more interested in, he excluded himself from the leadership race. Mr Khan won a second term as mayor of London in the 2021 mayoral election.
The question of whether Mr Khan will run for a third term or instead run for election to the House of Commons in the hopes of becoming the leader of the Labour Party has been raised after he was re-elected for a second term. Mr Khan, however, declared his intention to seek a third term.
Mr Khan became the first person to be elected to three terms as Mayor of London when he defeated Conservative opponent Susan Hall in the 2024 mayoral election.
ULEZ
As evidenced by his victory, Mr Khan was able to successfully handle the most controversial issue of his mayoralty to date: charging drivers of polluting vehicles that enter the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez), which has been extended to include all London boroughs.
“The decision to expand the ULEZ London-wide was a difficult one, but necessary to save lives, protect children's lungs and help reduce the risk of Londoners developing asthma, dementia and a host of other health issues.” Khan said at the time.
Reactions to receiving a knighthood
The news has received mixed reactions, even sparking a debate on social media.
Praising the decision, The Standard’s Ross Lydall said: “Mr Khan is by some distance the most conscientious: he’s always done his homework, mastered his brief, knows exactly what he wants to say.”
One user wrote on X: “Congratulations Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan what's next? 10 Downing Street? Is there anything this man can't achieve?”
Congratulations Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan what's next? 10 Downing Street?
— Duncan Pritchard (@unfiltereddunc) December 6, 2024
Is there anything this man can't achieve?#london #SadiqKhan #downingstreet
However, former Conservative MP Anna Firth told GB News that “it’s the people of London that deserve a knighthood for putting up with Sadiq Khan”.
“Tell that to the 15,000 families who've had a victim of knife crime. He has completely failed on knife crime and to keep the streets safe. What has this man actually done to deserve a knighthood? He's failed everybody,” she added.
A lot of users on X joined Ms Firth with similar disparaging comments.
One user said: “Who else thinks London Mayor Sadiq Khan does not deserve a knighthood?”
Who else thinks London Mayor Sadiq Khan does not deserve a Knighthood?
— Richard Bertin (@ayesleft) December 6, 2024
Another added: “I am glad we all collectively agree that Sadiq Khan does not deserve a knighthood. Shouldn’t even be in the job.”
I am glad we all collectively agree that Sadiq khan does not deserve a knighthood
— Sophie Corcoran (@sophielouisecc) December 5, 2024
Shouldn’t even be in the job
