London Mayoral election commentary: Sadiq Khan is one of Britain's most significant politicians

Top job: Sadiq Khan, seen arriving at City Hall tonight, is set to be the new Mayor of London
Stefan Rousseau/PA

From tonight, barring a significant political upset, Sadiq Khan will be one of the most significant figures in British politics.

Make no mistake, the bus driver's boy from Tooting does not intend to be a passenger at City Hall. He is a politician to his fingertips, and one who is not afraid to exercise power.

Tonight he is set to have a mandate to run London according to a manifesto that includes a bold fares freeze, a pledge to cut costs at "flabby" Transport for London, and a determination to tackle extremism in London's communities.

  • Follow the latest news and results on our live election blog here.

But the most intriguing aspect to the Khan mayoralty is how it will interact with Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership.

He shows signs of building a City Hall that is a showcase for all sides of the Labour Party, with talk of posts for ubermoderniser Lord Adonis as well as an array of refugees from Corbyn Towers like Neal Coleman.

Also, he is on close terms with the big trade unions, who lent him their calling centres. That is significant because unions like the GMB and Unite show signs of tiring with the Islington lefties now running Labour after clashes on defence spending and other touchstone issues.

If they want to explore policy solutions that challenge the Corbynistas, then City Hall could be a testing ground and the ultimate centre-left think tank.

Sadiq Khan is a man that Corbyn ought to be nervous of. Not because Khan has any interest in challenging for the Labour leadership either now or in future, but because he is the Labour figure who has shown how to win.

London Mayoral Election Campaigns - In pictures

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And he will have the biggest direct mandate from the general public of anyone in Labour (or indeed the UK).

Yes, Jezza was voted in by Labour members and the £3 supporters, but Khan has seemingly won the trust of the biggest single electorate in the country - Londoners.

So what could this mean? We know the pair are not soul brothers, despite what Zac Goldsmith's campaign tried in vain to assert. They have clashed already on Crossrail 2 after Corbyn crazily claimed the north of England needs a high speed railway more urgently than bursting London needs a north-south line.

Where they most deeply disagree is on how Labour can win power. Khan's campaign was all about housing, jobs and fares: And the result shows he found the pulse of hard-stretched London families. He also appealed to the aspiration of Londoners, neatly citing his hopes for his daughters to illustrate what he aims to achieve.

Contrast a London triumph with Corbyn's lacklustre council results and the disaster in Scotland. In particular, look at the gains made from Labour by Ukip in Wales and elsewhere, which suggest the traditional heartlands do not feel the metropolitan Left speak for them.

Labour's centre-left now has a base to put forward and develop a real alternative to the strategy of the Corbynistas.

City Hall has been at the heart of political theatre under Boris for the past eight years. Now it is set to be centre stage for a very different kind of drama.

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