Exclusive: Canary Wharf Group chairman among business voices backing Sadiq Khan

Canary Wharf Group chairman Sir George Iacobescu is among dozens of business voices backing Sadiq Khan ahead of Thursday’s mayoral election.

The property tycoon, who also served on a City Hall post-Brexit business advisory panel in 2016, joined more than 80 business figures across the capital endorsing Labour’s incumbent mayoral candidate’s campaign.

Other names backing Khan included Paul Drechsler, the ex-chairman of lobby group Business LDN; former Tory business advisor Iain Anderson, who is now counselling Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer; Jeremy Rees, CEO of Excel London; and Sushil Saluja. ex-Bank of England director.

In a statement, they wrote: “We believe Sadiq Khan has supported London’s businesses large and small through tough times, and is the right candidate to deliver growth in London’s economy.

“We call on business owners and everyone who cares about London’s success to vote for Sadiq on 2 May.”

It comes after the Docklands kingpin told the Financial Times earlier this year that Margaret Thatcher’s decision to largely halt state housebuilding and transfer it to the private sector “doesn’t work” and urged the government to build 2.5m new social and affordable homes.

Khan launched his campaign alongside Starmer with the pledge to build 40,000 new council homes by the end of the decade, calling London’s housing crisis “the greatest challenge facing our city, one of the biggest social justice issues – it’s created a generational divide”.

He also recently appointed former Canary Wharf Group director Howard Dawber as his deputy mayor for business.

Khan also pledged in his manifesto to deliver a new London growth plan, with a target of more than 150,000 new jobs by 2028; championing growing sectors including life sciences, health, digital, fintech, retail tech, cyber and AI; creative industries; climate tech and energy; and continuing to back small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and boosting full-fibre access.

Meanwhile, Conservative candidate Susan Hall – a former small business owner and ex-Harrow council leader – states in her manifesto, which she called ‘A Contract With London’, that ending the ultra low emissions zone (ULEZ) in outer London will “immediately bring relief to families on low incomes, traders, small business owners, and charities that cannot afford this tax”.

Hall, who also wrote for City A.M. saying that she would make London the best place to run a business, also stated: “I have lived in London for my entire life. It’s where I brought up my children, where I started my business, and where I have served for over a decade as a councillor.”

Other endorsements from those backing Khan included Darjeeling Express owner and chef Asma Khan; City of London councillor Tom Sleigh, who made the endorsement in a personal capacity; former KPMG Consulting chief executive Alan Buckle; and entrepreneur and investor Gareth Quarry, a former Tory donor who has since given £100,000 and joined the Labour Party.

Hall told City A.M.: “In Sadiq Khan’s London, businesses cannot thrive, families cannot lay down roots, and people do not feel safe.

“I have a plan to make London the best city in the world to live and work in, with more police, more family homes and an end to the unfair ULEZ expansion.

“Vote for a new Mayor who listens on Thursday.”