Zohran Mamdani has stood against the rise of the populist right in the United States, storming to victory in the New York City mayoral race as a self-described democratic socialist while swathes of the country appear to move in the opposite direction.
The Democrat nominee’s victory after a relentless campaign, over former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, represents a stark vindication for his approach to politics in the Big Apple.
Mamdani, 34, is the city’s youngest mayor in generations. He is also the city’s first Muslim mayor. And in his victory speech he has already promised to be a thorn in the side of President Donald Trump, who threatened to cut funding to the city if Mamdani wins.
“If there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” he said. “So Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”
Mamdani’s brand, itself a kind of leftwing economic populism, has focused on lowering the cost of living for squeezed New Yorkers, making city buses free, freezing rent for many, offering universal childcare and funding it with taxes on the rich.
Polls before the election suggested that his message has resonated with Democrats and independents. But his critics warn the win will lead to a wealth drain from the city. Both critics and supporters have pointed to London and its left-leaning mayor as an indication of where things could go.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, does share some similarities with Mamdani. Khan is a member of the broadly left-wing Labour party, though he sits closer to the centre than Mamdani. Both are Muslim and the sons of immigrants to their respective countries. Both have upset Trump. And both have sought to address the concerns of average voters around rising rents, the unaffordability of houses, and wage stagnation.
Both also have relatively similar ideological solutions: they see their city’s diversity, liberal core and strong work ethic as a bulwark against the tide of nationalistic and isolationist rhetoric that is pervasive in modern politics.
Khan, asked about Mamdani by Bloomberg Television in an interview published on Monday, said that the reason some people hate London and New York is that “we are progressive cities, we are liberal cities, we are multicultural cities, and we’re incredibly successful”.
London does have challenges with growth, productivity and a housing crisis. Like New York, it has also avoided some of the concerns around deindustrialisation, lack of opportunity and demographic change fueling the populist right elsewhere. Khan and Mamdani - not the “communist” Trump says he is - approach the needs of the electorate with reform instead of revolution.
Mamdani is certainly not a communist, but he could be more radical than Khan. Where Khan has frozen TfL fares for Londoners, Mamdani would do away with bus fares altogether. Khan continues to push for rent caps in the city, while in theory Mamdani could make it happen.
In multicultural societies, Khan and Mamdani are proud of their faith. Mamdani has spoken about his Muslim identity through his campaign. He has also spoken about the horrific Islamophobic messages he has received, and has faced intense criticism from pro-Israeli Jews over his stance on the war in Gaza. Both he and Khan have faced accusations of anti-Semitism. Both have made a commitment to serve all constituents, and celebrate difference in the cities they love.
Uma Kumuran, an MP who campaigned for Khan the first time around, told the New York Times that “being the son of a bus driver was probably more prominent during the campaign than him being Muslim or being the son of Pakistani immigrants”.
Mamdani is, by contrast, the son of a university professor and a filmmaker, which he has been honest about. But he also has the benefit of being more ‘in touch’ than his peers, a product of the NYC Public School system who went on to help low-income homeowners of colour fight off eviction before running for office.
London and New York are different cities, and Khan and Mamdani are different people. It is impossible to extrapolate from London’s story where New York’s could go next. But both politicians do have in common a shared faith in their city, its values and the people who choose to live there.
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