The London New Year’s Eve celebrations are famous worldwide – and newly knighted London Mayor Sadiq Khan was present to head up the party.
The event featured a range of spectacular celebrations – headlined by the iconic New Year’s fireworks display which is broadcast globally and is famous for the sight of incredible illuminations lighting up the capital’s skyline.
The festival this year is attended by visitors from around the world – and the crowd comprised of 100,000 ticket holders set to enjoy the big event, which also features an amazing soundtrack broadcast to the crowd, with some of the world’s leading recording artists from the last decade.
Organised by the Mayor of London, the newly knighted Mayor spoke with Asian Standard, outlining his feelings about his knighthood, the lessons learnt from the past year and his hopes for the future.
Mr Khan has received this honour as part of the King’s New Year’s honours list, in recognition of his political and public service. Mr Khan’s victory in the London Mayor elections means that he is the first London Mayor to secure a third term – stating that it is the “honour of his life to serve the city I love.”
The award places him amongst other high–profile figures honoured this year, including England football star Gareth Southgate, actor and comedian Stephen Fry and gold medal winner Keely Hodgkinson.
Mr Khan told Asian Standard: “It’s a humbling experience to receive this honour from His Majesty, The King. I was with my Mum yesterday when the news became public. I lost my dad 20 years ago, so it was quite emotional.
“Both my mother and father are migrants to this country who worked incredibly hard until they retired. For them to see one of their children bestowed this honour demonstrates why this city is the greatest in the world and why this country is so special. It shows that if you work hard there is a helping hand, and you can achieve anything.
“I’m humbled by this honour, and I will carry on working hard to give back to this great city of ours.”
Mr Khan talked of his feelings and views on the past year for London and the UK:
“I have lots of memories of this great year. The Olympics were fantastic – both the Olympics and the Paralympics were amazing – the Euros again we came so close we didn’t quite pull that off!
“But also, the general election was really important. The country spoke – and voted for change on 4th July. I’m happy to be working with the Labour government and the Prime Minister.”
He talked of the lessons he learned from the events of 2024 and how he would apply them to help Londoners in the future: “I have hope and optimism about the future. The fireworks today were about hope and optimism. Looking back at looking back at 2024 and forward to 2025 I want to show that London is a city for everyone.”
He gave his thoughts on what was important for him to do in the coming year, and talked of the unity that he hopes the new administration will bring: “I think that it is important that London sees the benefits of this new government. A government working closely with the mayor is important. For 14 years we have had a government that is working against the capital city – particularly in the last eight years.
“Now we have a Labour government that is working with The Mayor to make sure that we have jobs, prosperity for our great city and investment in public services.”
Mr Khan described how personally he intends to face the challenges of the coming year:
“What’s important is that we build a capital city that is safer, greener and healthier, more prosperous and more affordable.”
He talked about his pride in being part of the successes in London: “I’m proud of the free school meals. Proud of the cleaner air that people can breathe. The investment in youth clubs, investment in policing. I plan to build on that and deliver more.”
Finally, he gave his message to Londoners: “I would wish everyone watching these celebrations tonight a very happy new year. The best of health to you and your families – I hope you have a fantastic New Year’s Eve celebration.
“I also hope you have a fantastic 2025. A year that is full of hope and promise – I hope it delivers!”
