Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
It may not have grabbed the attention of Londoners to the extent sought by the candidates, but the 2024 mayoral race was not without its highlights.
Sadiq Khan’s election day doughnut mystery
There may be more to this story: could Mr Khan’s day have a sticky end?
Taste test: the Sadiq Khan jam doughnuts in Dunn’s bakery
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BBC London’s Having a Mayor podcast
BBC London’s political team – Tim Donovan, Karl Mercer and Susana Mendonca – broke new ground with a weekly podcast, which made the campaign sound far funnier than it was.
It also featured the occasional contribution from the Evening Standard.
Evening Standard endorses Sadiq Khan
According to the political journalist (and former Standard deputy political editor) Paul Waugh, this was the first time the Standard had backed a Labour mayoral candidate.
Christian Adams
Susan Hall: ‘I was a raver back in the day’
Not much these days, she said – she prefers a quiet restaurant dinner with family – before revealing she was a “raver back in the day”.
Sadiq Khan declares Susan Hall the ‘most dangerous’ candidate he has faced
Zoë Garbett: Keep Hammersmith bridge as a walking and cycling bridge
Hammersmith bridge closed to vehicles five years ago. The failure to get it reopened is seen as symbolic of the failures of politicians to work together.
Zoë Garbett at Hammersmith Bridge
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Susan Hall unveils heritage Routemaster as election battle bus
Just like Boris Johnson, Susan Hall used the iconic London bus in her bid for City Hall.
Unfortunately, when it was unveiled, it rolled up with Ms Hall on board but without a destination on the front – and then promptly drove straight into a cul-de-sac, as BBC London’s Karl Mercer pointed out on that night’s TV bulletin.
Rob Blackie renames Silvertown tunnel the ‘Sadiq Khan motorway’
Name game: Lib-Dems want to rename the Silvertown tunnel the Sadiq Khan Motorway
Andy Sillett
Susan Hall’s advertising van not Ulez-compliant
Launching her manifesto in a car repair garage in Bexley, former teenage mechanic Susan Hall also posed alongside an advertising van bearing digital posters critical of Sadiq Khan.
Ross Lydall / ES
Sadiq Khan’s infant army dubs Tory rival ‘Susan the sandwich snatcher’
With the polls narrowing, Sadiq Khan was keen to promote his policy of making free school lunches for all school children permanent, should he be re-elected.
Five primary school kids got up early to praise the free meals – and proved unexpectedly critical of Ms Hall, who has only pledged to keep the meals until the cost of living crisis eases, and has questioned whether “millionaires’ children” should be dining at the taxpayers’ expense.
Susan Hall’s unexpected support on the stump in Golders Green
Walkabouts are fraught with danger, especially alongside journalists bearing cameras, but Susan Hall received a warm reception in Golders Green.
One elderly woman told her she was “wonderful” – “oh, gosh!” replied Ms Hall – while two lads, quite possibly playing for laughs, posed alongside her and said: “We are with the future mayor.”
Laurence Fox is barred from standing as mayor
Former actor Laurence Fox stood on an “anti-woke” platform in the 2021 election, coming sixth. Since then his notoriety had risen.
BBC broadcasts Susan Hall’s party political broadcast in Sadiq Khan’s slot
The main candidates were granted several minutes of prime-time TV to make their pitch to Londoners. Unfortunately for Mr Khan, his carefully crafted film – which revealed details of his plans for four more years of free school meals and to eradicate rough sleeping by the end of the decade – did not run as planned.
Dancing Queen: Sadiq Khan gets to be a DJ
On a visit to a youth project in Croydon, Mr Khan – a keen ‘dad dancer’ – got to try his hand at being a DJ.
His choice of music was decidedly retro: Dancing Queen, by Abba. His teenage audience looked suitably unimpressed.
Count Binface croissant pledge hit by cost of living crisis
Even intergalactic space warriors are not immune to political backtracking.
Having caught the eye in 2021 with a pledge to restrict the price of croissants to £1, Count Binface raised the threshold to £1.10, saying he had fallen victim to the cost of living crisis – but denied it was a full U-turn.