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Sadiq Khan backs Starmer for Labour leadership

SADIQ KHAN has backed Sir Keir Starmer’s campaign for Labour leadership.

The Mayor of London said the frontrunner in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn was the apt person to reinvigorate the party.


In a tweet this morning, Khan said he knew Starmer “for decades”, and that the shadow Brexit secretary was his pick to “unite our party, take the fight to the Tories and put Labour in government”.

A source said Khan believed Starmer was capable of making “the changes needed in order to win again”.

Starmer said he was “honoured to have received Sadiq’s backing”, adding that he was looking forward to “campaigning alongside him to keep London Labour”.

In 2015, the MP for Holborn and St Pancras had endorsed Khan’s bid to be Labour’s mayoral candidate.

Interestingly, London-based lawyers used to work together when Khan was human rights solicitor and Starmer a barrister.

Starmer seemed to have a clear edge over fellow candidates, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy, in the leadership race that will culminate on April 4.

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Key points

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  • Temperatures set to rise with highs of 31°C expected by Thursday
  • Heatwave could be declared by Friday if warm conditions persist
  • Night-time temperatures to remain high, increasing discomfort
  • UV and pollen levels forecast to be very high across the south

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