Five things we learned from Sadiq Khan’s manifesto launch

1. Khan is taking the “Mayor for all Londoners” approach seriously

Sadiq Khan’s strapline has infused his whole campaign, with the mayoral hopeful praising people from all walks in life. Khan spoke about having a “32-borough strategy” and wanting to appeal to Londoners who voted Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem or UKIP last year.

The polling yesterday shows that Khan and Goldsmith are neck and neck on first preferences in outer boroughs, with each on 27 per cent. The fact that Khan is making gains in historically blue areas show how his policies appeal to all of the capital.

This is in contrast to Boris Johnson’s previous mayoral campaigns, which employed a successful ‘doughnut’ strategy. Johnson’s team appealed to more affluent outer boroughs of London rather than focusing on the traditionally Labour inner boroughs in order to win votes.

2. He has gone further on gender equality 

Khan said he wants to be a “feminist in city hall”, speaking about the pay gap and lack of opportunities afforded to young women. He spoke at length about wanting his two teenage daughters to be able to thrive with their male peers – and promised policies to deliver on these values.

Khan has promised a gender audit of City Hall to ensure there is no pay gap. He will demand the same of large contractors that do business with his office. Additionally, Khan promised to make gender a key component of Skills for Londoners – targeting girls for STEM courses in particular.

3. He is staking a claim on traditional Tory policy areas

Khan has marketed himself as “the most pro-business Mayor London has ever seen” and angled his housing policy towards home ownership.

The mayoral hopeful is not simply stealing Tory policies: his are infused with Labour values. Monetising public assets like TfL land, increasing transparency to tackle rogue landlords, and part-rent-part-buy schemes are all designed to make home ownership a reality for average earners.

This is not to say that Khan is neglecting social housing or reducing rent schemes, but he is broadening his approach in order to control the narrative on getting Londoners onto the housing ladder.

His proposed business advisory board will provide strategic advice for growing the economy, but this will be combined with reducing inequality between rich and poor: a distinctly Labour approach.

Khan promised to increase home ownership and support those saving for a deposit, and prioritise Londoners who have been here for five years for housing schemes overseen by the Mayor.

4. We could see more commercial activities from TfL

The biggest expense for Londoners after their housing is public transport but Khan promised to freeze fares if he was elected.

This pledge was criticised for lacking planning, but his manifesto launch contained detailed plans of how to fund it. He spoke about merging engineering services in order to reduce overheads, tackling fare dodging and reducing the use of consultants and outside agencies.

His plans to raise revenues go beyond money-saving measures in current services. Instead Khan wants TfL to engage in more commercial activity.

He wants TfL to start bidding for London contracts which are currently operated by overseas companies as well as looking at operating in other cities around the globe. He expanded on his plans to use TfL land for housing, retaining the freehold so that TfL had long-term streams of revenue.

5. Positive campaigning really does get you further

Zac Goldsmith’s campaign has personally attacked Khan on multiple occasions, making allegations about radicalism and sharing platforms with extremists, but it doesn’t appear to have won him any friends.

The Conservative candidate is languishing ten points behind Khan in the polls, and the most notable headlines from his campaign have been his non-dom status and Euroscepticism. Neither have made him appear in step with London.

Khan has hit out at the Tory attacks as “a bit desperate” and called on his opponent to have “a campaign that is positive”.