A long summer of violent crimes has resulted in London Mayor Sadiq Khan's popularity plunging to its lowest yet.
Khan’s ratings have slipped from +22 in May this year down to +4 on Monday (10), according to the YouGov study commissioned by Queen Mary University of London.
“Sadiq Khan has suffered a noticeable hit in his ratings, down from being the most popular politician in Britain just 18 months ago, to being ahead but not by much,''Professor Philip Cowley of Queen Mary’s Mile End Institute was quoted as saying by the Evening Standard.
“The 2020 contest is looking a lot more interesting now than it did even before this summer. Justine Greening and other big Tory beasts might now regret their decision not to have a tilt at him.”
On Tuesday (11), Khan announced that extra officers will be added to a taskforce to tackle violent crimes in London.
''The Met Police Violent Crime Taskforce was launched in April using £15 million of additional funding from City Hall - and has so far made more than 1,000 arrests, carried out more than 1900 weapons sweeps, removed 250 knives and 200 offensive weapons from our streets,'' Khan said.
''Today I've announced 122 extra @metpoliceuk officers will join the City Hall-funded Violent Crime Taskforce - strengthening our work to tackle violent crime by removing dangerous weapons and criminals from our streets.''
There has been a surge in violent crimes in the capital this year, with 87 people being killed in the first seven months of the year alone.
Dhatt with sons Jasvinder and Parminder
Dhatt as a young soldier
Dhatt with the then Prince of Wales, and the late Queen
Dhatt gardening at home
Dhatt with his granddaughter Amrit