The Mayor of London has ruled out following his Greater Manchester counterpart’s example in running for a seat in Westminster.
By Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
Credit: London Labour/City Hall
The Mayor of London has ruled out following his Greater Manchester counterpart’s example in running for a seat in Westminster.
Sir Sadiq Khan’s office definitely rejected any notion that he would return to his former life as an MP in the capital. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, will need to step down from his role if he wins the Makerfield by-election.
But there is currently no restriction on the Mayor of London from exploiting a legislative loophole which would also allow him to sit on the House of Commons benches.
Towards the end of his time in City Hall, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson sat as an MP for an entire year after winning the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election in 2015.
This is because the Greater London Authority Act 1999 does not ban sitting MPs from also holding the office of Mayor of London – or vice versa. However, two decades on, this loophole is set to be closed by the end of June.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act – passed last month – prohibits individuals from holding the office of Member of Parliament (or being a member of any of the devolved legislatures in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and Mayor simultaneously. The Mayor of London is included in this.
This will come into effect two months after the date the Act received Royal Assent (April 29), which will be June 29.
When asked if Sadiq Khan will try to return to Parliament ahead of the deadline, a source close to the Mayor said: “Sadiq has no intention of running for Parliament.”
However, they confirmed that he continues to back his fellow Mayor’s ambition to re-enter Westminster.
For Mr Burnham, there is no legal requirement for the Mayor of a strategic authority to resign in order to be a candidate in the Makerfield by-election.
However, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 states that a Mayor who also has Police and Crime Commissioner functions is disqualified from being a Police and Crime Commissioner upon being elected as a member of the House of Commons.
As the Mayor of Greater Manchester has the Police and Crime Commissioner functions, they would – if elected as an MP – become disqualified from being Mayor.
This means he would only cease to be Mayor of Greater Manchester if elected as MP for Makerfield – not whilst running beforehand. If he loses the seat, he will continue running the major northern city. If he wins, however, a mayoral by-election would need to take place in Manchester within 35 working days.
Sir Sadiq has still not confirmed his plans past May 2028, when the next mayoral election takes place.
He is undecided on whether to stand for a fourth term in office or hand over to another Labour candidate.
There were also reports that he may soon be offered a peerage to sit in the House of Lords, though his team has denied any talks. Meanwhile Dawn Butler MP has this week denied claims she is going to run for Mayor of London in 2028.
