Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan married fellow solicitor Saadiya Ahmed in 1994. They have two daughters together: Anisah (born 1999) and Ammarah (2001). A devout Muslim, Khan has raised both his daughters in the faith.

He is known to fast during Ramadan and often visits the Al-Muzzammil Mosque in Tooting. British liberal media has characterized him as “a moderate, socially liberal Muslim”.

Khan has published three books to date. In 2008, his first book, ‘Fairness Not Favours’, was published through The Fabian Society. He followed it up by releasing his second book, ‘Punishment and Reform’. Later, he put out ‘Our London’.

Sadiq Khan was born on October 8, 1970 at St George's Hospital in Tooting, South London, as the fifth of the eight children of Sehrun Khan and Amanullah Khan. His father was a bus driver for over 25 years while his mother was a seamstress.

His parents were among the hundreds of thousands of Muslim families who went to Pakistan from India after the partition of 1947. In the 1960s, they moved to Britain where all their children, including Sadiq, were born.

He has one sister and six brothers. They grew up together in a working-class Sunni Muslim family living out of a three-bedroom council flat on the Henry Prince Estate in Earlsfield. Sadiq began his education at Fircroft Primary School, in the London Borough of Wandsworth and later attended Ernest Bevin School, a local comprehensive school.

Initially, he wanted to be a dentist and studied mathematics and science at A-level. However, noticing his argumentative personality, a teacher suggested that he should study law. That suggestion, along with the NBC’s legal drama ‘L.A. Law’, of which Khan was a fan, inspired him to pursue a career in law.

He enrolled at the University of North London (now London Metropolitan University) to study law. In 1991, he graduated and subsequently passed the Law Society finals, which was held at the College of Law in Guildford.

In 1994, Khan joined Christian Fisher, a soliciting firm based in London, as a trainee solicitor. They predominantly handled legal aid cases. At the time, the partners were Michael Fisher and Louise Christian.

Within only three years, in 1997, Khan was also made a partner in the firm. Fisher quit the firm in 2002, and Khan and Christian, both of whom were human rights solicitors, rebranded it as Christian Khan. He eventually quit the firm two years later, in 2004.

As a solicitor, most of the cases he dealt with involved employment and discrimination law, inquests, judicial reviews, the police, and crime.

Sadiq Khan became involved in politics sometime in the early 1990s. By 1994, he had become a prominent figure in the regional politics. That year, he was selected as a Councillor for the London Borough of Wandsworth and would serve in the position until 2006. When he retired from the local political scene, he received the title of Honorary Alderman of Wandsworth.

In 2003, the Tooting Constituency Labour Party made the decision to let any candidate contest for its parliamentary selection, including Tom Cox, the incumbent Member of Parliament. Cox decided to resign from his position rather than face de-selection.

Khan was subsequently elected over his five opponents to be the Labour Party candidate in the 2005 general election. He went on to win the election and become the new MP from Tooting.

Khan garnered some controversies in the early years of his political career. The Sunday Times reported on February 3, 2008, that Khan met prisoner Babar Ahmad, one of his constituents who later would be convicted of terrorist activities, and their conversation was heard by the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch as the room was bugged.

Subsequently, an enquiry was conducted in order to find out if the Wilson Doctrine, a convention that restricts police from bugging MPs, was breached. The enquiry ultimately reported that there wasn’t any breach.