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In a perfect-fitting blue suit and crisp white shirt, Khan came pacing in at the speed I imagine he limbers up with on his daily 5k runs. But it was more of the scrappy boxer, who\u2019s been sparring since he was a boy, than the morning runner I met today.<\/p>\n
It was the afternoon of Keir Starmer\u2019s make-or-break speech to defend his leadership \u2013 considered \u201ctoo little, too late\u201d by Catherine West, a fellow London politician and backbench rebel collecting MP signatures to call on the Prime Minister to stand down before September.<\/p>\n
Instead of going out and selling the party\u2019s national achievements \u2013 on renters\u2019 rights, workers\u2019 rights and childcare hours, Khan said \u201cwe were talking about Peter bloody Mandelson\u201d, referring to the scandalous US ambassador appointment that made headlines again as postal ballots were sent out to voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes me really angry, because good councillors could have kept their seats, and they didn\u2019t, not through any fault of themselves, their councillors or City Hall, but because of the Labour government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan, who was MP for Tooting in south London for over a decade and served in various shadow cabinet roles \u2013 including shadow justice secretary \u2013 has been London mayor since 2016, when Britain was still in the EU, the Conservatives were still in government and Donald Trump had yet to grace the White House.<\/p>\n
While he told me he didn\u2019t believe Labour should oust its leader, he reflected on the Prime Minister\u2019s position. \u201cI\u2019m not somebody calling for a change in leader, although we\u2019ve got to change,\u201d Khan said. \u201cBut we can\u2019t pretend that Keir Starmer was popular or an asset on the doorstep. I mean, we can\u2019t pretend, right? Because if we do so, we can\u2019t address the issue, the importance of change, the importance of a North Star, the importance of sunny uplands, the importance of a vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
The beleaguered Prime Minister has insisted he wants to pursue the \u201cdecade of renewal\u201d he promised \u2013 saying he would fight the next election and serve another term.<\/p>\n
Does Khan, as a politician who\u2019s just completed ten years in office, think he should?<\/p>\n
\u201cPresent company excepted, I think, generally speaking, the life expectancy of a chief executive, a football manager, a political leader, is shorter 1778563092 than it otherwise would be,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeir won the general election \u2013 the first general election he stood in, which is great. I think the key thing now is to focus on delivery and to give people hope and a vision. I think the idea of talking about ten years at this stage is just, just being frank and candid, as I always am, you know, is not realistic, because people want to talk about the next election.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan went further than just naming Starmer as an electoral drag. In his view, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves also needs to change her approach. \u201cThere was, without doubt, unhappiness with Keir Starmer, with the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and with the Labour government,\u201d he said, on what voters in London were saying on the doorstep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be giving hope. I mean, this doom and gloom stuff, every time I hear the Chancellor speak, it\u2019s doom and gloom for the last two years. People didn\u2019t vote for a Labour government for more doom and gloom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after taking office, Reeves warned that Labour\u2019s inheritance from the Tories was worse than expected \u2013 repeatedly referring to a \u201c\u00a320bn black hole\u201d in the public finances.<\/p>\n
Khan said in his role as mayor he speaks to many investors, venture capitalists and chief executives across the world. While they feel more certainty and stability in Britain post-Labour landslide, he revealed the Reeves narrative is putting them off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s bad is talking down our country, what\u2019s bad is not being a great salesperson for this country,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important to encourage people to come here, but to keep them when they come here. We are, inadvertently from the noise coming from the Treasury, encouraging people to leave this country to go elsewhere. It\u2019s bonkers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want wealth creators here, we want people who want to live here, we want to encourage the rights of people and businesses to come here, and when it\u2019s all doom and gloom, why would you choose to come here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Not just investors, he says, but tourists and students too.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to support people whose living standards [need to be] increased, invest in public services, but you\u2019ve also got to work with the private sector to help create wealth, jobs and prosperity,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd I think my party in government has lost the skill, doesn\u2019t seem to have the art of being hopeful, optimistic, upbeat, and that\u2019s what people want.\u201d<\/p>\n