London Mayor Sadiq Khan to seek second term

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Sadiq KhanImage source, PA

Sadiq Khan has said he will seek a second term as Mayor of London in 2020.

The Labour politician, who was elected in 2016, confirmed his intention during an appearance on singer Jessie Ware's podcast.

"I will be running again to be the mayor, yes - that's the first time I've said that publicly," he said.

During the interview, he also said he hoped protests against US President Donald Trump's visit to the UK would help change public opinion in America.

Mr Khan was asked how he would deal with the president - who criticised the mayor over his response to the terror attack at London Bridge and Borough Market last year.

"The president of the USA, the leader of the free world, looks at Twitter and then tweets about me? I just don't understand how he has got the time to do that," Mr Khan told Ms Ware and her mother.

"It's a bit weird. I didn't want to get involved in this ding-dong, I'm not an active participant."

He said he was pleased that Mr Trump's visit to the UK, on Friday, 13 July, was not a state visit and it was important to be able to protest at the visit.

"It's right and proper for us to be active citizens and to march and to lobby and to protest," he said.

"It should be peacefully - we can't have anybody who thinks it's OK to cause criminal damage or to cause harm."

He added: "When people see that London - a city that loves Americans and America, where Americans have made their home - are peacefully protesting against some of the things their president is doing, I hope people notice that."

Mr Khan is London's first Muslim mayor and his election in 2016 ended eight years of Conservative control at City Hall.