What Can London's Mayor Actually Do for the City?

Elected mayor of London last May with a healthy majority, Sadiq Khan made international headlines as the first Muslim to head a Western European capital—a fact that, despite his opponents’ best effort, wasn’t a major issue in London’s mayoral conversation. Now eight months on the job, Khan remains a public figure with a surprisingly high profile given his limited authority.

Even for people not enmeshed in the niceties of Britain’s municipal wranglings, Khan’s performance is an interesting subject for exploration. He has emerged as one of the key voices fighting the fallout of Brexit. He also represents an office that, unbeknown to many, is radically different in design from other big city mayoralties across the world. While Khan’s manipulation of soft power has been strong, his office’s actual hard power to enact policies is extremely weak. So how is he doing on the job?