Sir Sadiq Khan is London’s longest-serving mayor, holding the position since 2016.
The mayor of London is responsible for setting the budget and overall vision for the capital, spanning arts & culture, health, policing & crime, environment and more.
The mayor has a £20.7bn annual budget which is financed through a mixture of central government grants, transport costs, business rates and council tax.
How are London’s mayors elected and who will run next?
How is the mayor elected?
Mayors are elected through the “first past the post” system.
The first past the post system is the UK’s traditional voting system for general and local elections. It means that the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner.
You need to be on the electoral register to vote in May of London and London Assembly elections.
However, the way Londoners elect their mayor is to be changed.
The Government has published plans in the English Devolution Bill to slash the “first past the post” system.
Instead, it proposes returning to the supplementary vote system that was used for all other London mayoral elections since 2000.
The supplementary vote system gives voters a first and second preference vote, so the winner is likely to appeal to a broader cross-section of voters. It is a form of proportional representation.
It also lessens the chance of a mayor being elected with only a small minority of votes.
Professor Tony Travers, of the London School of Economics, told The Standard: “There no doubt the return of the 'supplementary vote' system for mayoral elections is most likely to help Labour: growing numbers of Liberal Democrat, Green and Independent voters would be likely to give a Labour candidate (particularly Sadiq Khan) their second vote.
“For the Conservatives, they will have to work to get Reform voters to give their second vote to the Conservative candidate - and presumably vice versa.”
How many terms can you run for London mayor?
There is no limit on how many terms someone can serve as mayor.
Will Sir Sadiq Khan run again?
Khan has not said whether he will run for mayor again.
It is thought two factors will be key to his decision: the pressure of the job, such as the need for high levels of security, and whether there would be a threat to his legacy as mayor.
When is the next election?
The next mayoral contest takes place in 2028.
Who are the longest serving mayors?
At present, Khan is the longest serving mayor. He secured his third term in May 2024.
Londoners began to vote for the mayor in 2000 and have had three since mayors since then. Ken Livingstone served from 2000 to 2008, followed by Boris Johnson who served until 2016, followed by Khan.
