Police, drugs and transport: what powers does London Mayor Sadiq Khan really have?
Home secretary proposing to curb mayoral influence over Met hiring and firing decisions
The scope of Sadiq Khan’s powers as London mayor is under scrutiny after Priti Patel ordered an independent review of his role in the hiring and firing of Metropolitan Police commissioners.
The Times reported that the review will be headed by Tom Winsor, the recently retired chief inspector of constabulary. The move follows the “ousting” of Met chief Cressida Dick in February, after Khan withdrew his support for her amid “racism, misogyny and misconduct scandals” in the force.
Patel was said to have been “blindsided” by the Labour mayor’s withdrawal of confidence “only a few months” after Dick was awarded a two-year extension to her contract, the paper continued. The home secretary will choose Dick’s successor but is “legally required to take Khan’s opinion into account”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a further clash over Khan’s powers, Policing Minister Kit Malthouse has told the mayor to end his “baffling” support for legalising cannabis and focus on knife crime in the capital instead.
What is Khan’s role as mayor?
Khan “sets the budget and is responsible for making London a better place for everyone who visits, lives or works in the city”, according to the London Assembly website. The former Labour MP for Tooting “has a duty to create plans and policies for the capital”, covering issues ranging from arts and culture to housing, transport and policing.
According to Police UK, Kahn “is responsible for setting policing and crime priorities for London”. As mayor, he “will hold the Met Police commissioner to account and work with partners to ensure that crimes goes down and criminal justice outcomes are improved”.
The Telegraph reported in February that Patel was planning a shake-up of legislation to prevent police and crime commissioners (PCC) from dismissing chief constables, including Met commissioners, “for political or personal reasons”. Khan is the equivalent of a PCC for London, so “does have the power to effectively dismiss the commissioner and suspend them if the Metropolitan Police Authority wants to remove or force them to retire”, said the paper.
Khan can also influence policing in the capital in other ways, although he doesn’t have the power to change specific legislation.
Following through on a key manifesto pledge in his mayoral campaign last year, Khan has appointed former justice secretary Charlie Falconer to lead a London Drugs Commission that “will examine the potential benefits of legalising cannabis” in London, This is Local London reported.
While the mayor cannot legalise cannabis, he can “provide recommendations on any potential model” for drug reform in the capital, and is likely to “focus on existing solutions that can be implemented without Home Office approval”, said Politics.co.uk.
Khan is backing a pilot scheme in which young people aged 18 to 24 found with “small” amounts of cannabis in the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley are to be offered speeding-course-style classes or counselling instead of arrest.
The project is being spearheaded by Damien Egan, the mayor of Lewisham, but may be funded by the mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), after “similar pre-custody ‘diversion schemes’ for drug users” were found to work successfully in other parts of the country, the London Evening Standard reported.
Could Khan’s powers be reduced?
According to The Times, a terms of reference for the independent review ordered by Patel asks Winsor to “provide the home secretary with advice, options and recommendations on how accountability and due process in these respects may be strengthened”.
The review will look at whether the mayor’s role should be “diminished” in order to “reduce the impact of politics”, said the paper, and “whether changes could be made so that a withdrawal of mayoral confidence would not necessarily result in a commissioner’s resignation”.
Reducing Khan’s powers would require new legislation, and would be likely to “anger City Hall, given that his role is to hold the Met to account and requires a close working relationship with its leadership”.
But, added The Times, “it is possible, though considered much less likely”, that Winsor could recommend that the mayor “be given more powers, to skew the balance in his favour”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What is cloud seeding and did it cause Dubai's severe rainfall?
The Explainer The future is flooded
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
American Airlines pilots are warning of a 'significant spike' in safety issues
In the Spotlight The pilot's union listed 'problematic trends' they say are affecting the airline's fleet
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
6 star-spangled presidential libraries to visit
The Week Recommends These institutions provide insight into American leaders
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?
Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Is the next cold war a drone-swarm race between US and China?
Today's Big Question Both global superpowers are building up their capacity for surging robotic warfare. What happens next is anyone's guess.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How powerful is Iran?
Today's big question Islamic republic is facing domestic dissent and 'economic peril' but has a vast military, dangerous allies and a nuclear threat
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why are Republicans trying to change Nebraska's Electoral College vote?
Today's Big Question It's a chance for Donald Trump to block Joe Biden's path to re-election
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is it time to end arms sales to Israel?
Today's Big Question Democrats urge restrictions following World Kitchen convoy deaths
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Have we entered the age of AI warfare?
Today's Big Question Israeli military used AI to create 'kill lists' of suspected Hamas militants, say local media
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published