'Hope won' - Sadiq Khan celebrates new NYC mayor

Zohran Mamdani is New York City's first Muslim mayor

New Yorkers chose hope over fear in electing their new mayor just as Londoners did, Sir Sadiq Khan has said.

Zohran Mamdani made history on Tuesday night by becoming the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of New York City and the youngest since 1892.

London's mayor drew parallels with his own political success when he celebrated Mamdani's victory, while also appearing to take a swipe at US President Donald Trump and his own mayoral predecessor Boris Johnson.

Writing on X, Sir Sadiq said: "New Yorkers faced a clear choice - between hope and fear - and just like we've seen in London - hope won."

He added: "Huge congratulations to @ZohranKMamdani on his historic campaign."

'Being Muslim is beside the point'

The two mayors appear to have some common ground: Both are social democrats and have each made history as the first Muslim mayors of London and New York.

However, writing in Time magazine, Sir Sadiq said: "The fact that both cities now have mayors who are also Muslim is extraordinary, but - in two of the most diverse cities on Earth - it's a bit beside the point.

"We did not win because of our faith. We won because we addressed voters' concerns, rather than playing on them," he said.

The London mayor went on to say how his New York counterpart and he "might not agree on everything", but said many challenges facing both cities were similar.

Sir Sadiq added he knew "all too well" how critics had used his own Muslim faith to "other" him, as he believed they had with Mamdani, but said the New York mayor had shown "courage" by showing "pride in his faith".

Sadiq Khan drew similarities between Mamadani's victory and his own success

Both men too seem to have a similar stance on Donald Trump.

Mamdani was elected despite Trump urging New Yorkers to vote instead former Democrat-turned-independent Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race and threatening to pull New York City funding if he won.

In his victory speech, Mamdani defiantly addressed Trump directly, telling him to "turn the volume up" before saying that he would stop the "culture of corruption that made him possible".

Sir Sadiq has a long history of bad relations with the US President.

In 2019, Trump called him a "stone-cold loser" while Sir Sadiq said Trump was stirring up far-right politics.

More recently, Trump described Sir Sadiq as a "a terrible, terrible mayor" to which Sir Sadiq responded by calling Trump "racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic".

Speaking to BBC London, he said: "People are wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multi-cultural, progressive and successful city, that means I appear to be living rent-free inside Donald Trump's head."

As part of his role as mayor of London, Sir Sadiq met New York City's then mayor Eric Adams on a tour of the US in 2022, with Adams hailing him as a "rockstar mayor".