Sadiq Khan speaking at an event wearing a white collared shirt and dark suit jacket

Sadiq Khan says the forthcoming mayoral elections said the election offer a “clear choice for creatives"

Photo: Scottish Government

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Sadiq Khan makes pre-election creative industries pledge 

London Mayor claims his Conservative rival for the forthcoming election, Susan Hall, plans to cut culture spending, while she says cultural industries 'will collapse' unless action on crime is taken.

Neil Puffett
2 min read

Sadiq Khan has pledged to 'turbo-charge' the capital's creative sectors if he is re-elected as London Mayor next month.

Ahead of voters going to the polls on 2 May, he said there should be "no limit" to ambitions for creativity and culture in London.

“If re-elected, I pledge to turbo-charge our creative sectors — delivering £25m to complete the Museum of London, finishing our ground-breaking East Bank project by 2025 and continuing the success of our creative enterprise zone programme across London," he said.

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“My record investment in our world-leading sectors like film, TV, animation, fashion, design, and games has helped support the sectors to bring in billions of investment to our city’s economy.

“There should be no limit to our ambition. I want London to be as known for its film industry as Hollywood is.”

Speaking to The Standard, he said the election offered a “clear choice for creatives”, claiming his Conservative rival Susan Hall wanted to cut City Hall’s £19m-a-year culture fund.

In February 2020, Hall labelled the culture budget as "bloated" after the Labour group rejected a plan by Conservative members of the London Assembly to cut it to pay for a new £104m Violent Crime Emergency Fund. 

Since being confirmed as the Conservative candidate for Mayor in July 2023, Hall has made tackling crime central to her campaign.

In a post on Saturday (6 April) on social media platform X, she said: "If Londoners do not feel safe, businesses cannot thrive, families cannot lay down roots, and our incredible cultural industries will collapse. 

"That is why we need a Mayor who listens."