Sadiq Khan is knighted as Keir Starmer palms out ‘reward for failure’: London mayor turns into Sir Sadiq within the New Year’s Honours – regardless of launching hated ULEZ cost and overseeing a dramatic hike in council tax

Sadiq Khan has been handed a knighthood in the New Year Honours – prompting furious claims of a ‘reward for failure’.

The Mayor of London, a former Labour MP, received the gong in the first batch of appointments made since Keir Starmer entered Downing Street.

Leading Tories pointed to his ‘track record of failure’ in the capital, including over tackling knife crime and dramatic hikes in council tax, congestion charges and emissions levies.

The furore came as hundreds of other honours were awarded to charity workers and selfless volunteers in a New Year Honours list intended to recognise ‘unsung heroes’.

There were also accolades for dozens of sports stars and celebrities, including knighthoods for former England football manager Gareth Southgate and actor Stephen Fry.

Other notable recipients included authors Dame Jacqueline Wilson and Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, gardener Alan Titchmarsh and actresses Sarah Lancashire and Carey Mulligan.

Several of Team GB’s Olympians and Paralympians were also honoured, were also honoured, as were leading figures in the campaign for justice for the wrongfully convicted Post Office subpostmasters.

But anger over the knighthood for Mr Khan threatened to overshadow the list.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Under Sadiq Khan Londoners have faced a 61 per cent increase in knife crime, a housing crisis and a 70 per cent increase in council tax; they will rightly be furious his track record of failure is being rewarded.’

Bob Blackman, the Tory MP for Harrow East and chair of the 1922 committee, said: ‘This is an absolute reward for failure.

‘He is a disaster in London. If you look at every single target he’s set himself – on housing, on crime – he’s missed them every time. 

‘He is a total failure, which is clearly a position he has in common with the Government.’

Earlier this month, suggestions that Sir Sadiq was set for a knighthood prompted a The world’s platform for change petition saying it should be blocked – attracting more than 200,000 signatures.

Tory London councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman started the petition. 

He told the Mail: ‘To see Sadiq Khan be given a knighthood is a kick in the teeth for millions of Londoners.

‘He refuses to take responsibility for his failures and shows no remorse or accountability.

‘His track record of failure makes his knighthood even more confusing: crime is up, police in special measures, fire brigade in special measures, his share of council tax is up, the number of days of strikes is up, robberies are up… He’s a nightmare, not a knighted Mayor.’

Sir Sadiq, 54, said he was ‘truly humbled’ by the award, adding: ‘I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London. 

‘It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all the capital’s communities deserve.’

Sir Sadiq, previously Labour MP for Tooting in south London, became London Mayor in 2016, the first Muslim mayor of any European capital. He was re-elected in 2021 and secured a third term earlier this year.

During his time in City Hall, London has been dubbed the ‘knife crime capital’ and the Met Police Service has been forced into special measures.

Sir Sadiq was accused of ‘losing control’ on crime in the city, with a reported 38 per cent increase in knife offences since he took office.

The mayor sparked anger among drivers with Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) and increases in the congestion charge, while also implementing public transport fare increases. His critics also claim he has failed to meet house-building targets.

Supporters of Sir Sadiq said he had been the first Mayor of London to be re-elected for a third term and claimed the Ulez had almost halved toxic air pollution in central London.

They said he invested record amounts in neighbourhood policing and funded 1,300 additional officers, and set up England’s first violence reduction unit.

On housing, building is now under way on more new council homes than at any time since the 1970s.

It comes after Sir Sadiq’s Labour predecessor Ken Livingstone turned down an offer of a CBE in 2012, saying: ‘I don’t believe politicians should get honours… I was paid very good money to be the mayor and nothing beats the recognition you get when the people of the city elect you in the first place.’

MPs raised questions over other recipients, including the former chief executive of HSBC, Noel Quinn, 62, who received a knighthood for services to finance and net zero.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘This was a guy who happily froze the accounts of British National Overseas people who arrived here in the UK from Hong Kong at the behest of the Chinese government.’

‘This sends a signal that this Government is dead keen on doing business with China. It is the wrong signal to send.’ 

Mr Quinn retired in September after leading HSBC since 2019.There was also a knighthood for Network Rail’s chief executive Andrew Haines, just weeks after a ‘nationwide fault’ caused major disruption across at least ten lines of the country’s rail network.

But Sir Keir praised the community ‘heroes’ recognised in the Honours list.

He said: ‘Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities.

‘They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this Government does.

‘The New Year Honours list celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution.’