Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory as New York City’s next mayor has resonated internationally, with observers in London describing the win as a “glimpse of hope.” Mamdani becomes the first Muslim and first person of South Asian descent to hold the position, as well as the youngest mayor in over a century. Political analysts note that his election signals a shift toward more diverse and progressive leadership in major cities, inspiring communities abroad who see his success as a model for inclusive politics. Supporters highlight Mamdani’s message of empowerment and change, while critics remain cautious about how his policies will play out in practice.
00:00It's thrilling that, you know, it's like the first piece of good news politically anywhere
00:26in a while, I think, I don't know, gives everybody a bit of hope that maybe something good can happen.
00:32Yeah, it's exciting and hopefully a time for change, a strong voice in America that is much needed
00:39against division and to unite people hopefully in a vision of a more inclusive and kind America, New York and the world.
00:50So yeah, it's exciting.
00:51Absolutely gorgeous and I love Lisbon.
00:57It's the best beaches ever. I'm off to Lisbon tomorrow for the weekend.
01:01And then I was like, I'm definitely in the UK and I'm very happy to be here.
01:03Maybe one day.
01:04But there's another life where I'm living in Lisbon.
01:05But maybe one day.
01:06I think it's amazing news for anyone who cares about hope and I think hope has triumphed over hate.
01:12This is important not just because it's important for New York but actually I think this resonates throughout the world.
01:17But this is about improving people's lives, recognizing the inequality that lies both at the heart of New York but frankly around much of the world.
01:25And this is about saying let's lower people's bills and tax multimillionaires and billionaires.
01:30And crucially, this has all been done while showing absolute solidarity to migrants, to trans people, to people with disabilities.
01:38We do not, in fact we must not pitch minority communities against inequality because actually inequality hits minority communities more than anyone else.
01:47As I left, she turned to her panel and she said it like a compliment but she just said he's clearly really got middle class.
01:53As saying actually we are all these things, we're just not that 1% of multimillionaires and billionaires.
01:57I mean I couldn't think of a bigger compliment. I also want to be clear, he's just a little bit cooler than me.
02:01So I either need to learn on my coolness skills or I think we can only be our authentic selves.
02:06But actually the most serious thing I see when I look to Zoran is someone who it looks like everyone around them is having fun.
02:12And although there are serious consequences and there are serious political turmoil going on both in New York and around the world,
02:19and indeed here in the UK, you can approach these things with a sense of fun whilst treating the issues as serious as they are.
02:25And I think he gets that just right.
02:27I think the use of social media is exceptionally important. I do think there's another important caveat here though.
02:37I feel like his win has already been undermined slightly by people saying it was a social media win,
02:42or indeed it's his authenticity that won it. Those are crucial ingredients.
02:47But let's be clear about what won this. What won this was the message.
02:50The message on a focus on affordability, on inequality and standing up for the needs of improving people's lives.
02:56Now if you just have that without the message and without social media, then we know it doesn't cut through.
03:01But the message we shouldn't take away from this is that it's just about communication or indeed just about authenticity.
03:07You need both messenger and message. That's what Zoran's done in New York and it's absolutely what I intend to do right here in England and Wales.
03:14So should I keep talking then?
03:15No, I was actually going to ask you a follow up to that social media.
03:19That's saying, you know, this is just like a moment or this is just like a...
03:23A difference.
03:24Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
03:25But we managed to find two. One was Canadian.
03:29The cost of living matters more than anything else and all left-wing parties should look to have answers to that.
03:35And the good news is we do have the answers to that. The biggest problems, whether it's here in the UK or in New York,
03:41is the 99% versus the 1%. And far too often in the past, whether it's Andrew Cuomo in America or Nigel Farage here in the UK,
03:48you have someone from the 1% who is claiming to speak as a man of the people.
03:53But they're men of the wealthy people. And what we've seen in Zoran is a man who will absolutely represent the needs of ordinary people
04:00and the rest of the country, the rest of the city in this case.
04:03I'm basically pro left of centre. Mayor's running New York, I think. That's all good with me.
04:20I think the rich and the powerful have got plenty of representation. So, yeah, it's good to see someone who's supporting people who don't have so much representation as far as I'm concerned.
04:30No, I mean, he's very young, so it's definitely a shift in the younger and, you know, better direction, I would say,
04:40just because it's just different views and different opinions that are going to come out, hopefully, with somebody as young
04:49and just more in tune with the younger generation. Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's obviously other medias and other mechanisms
04:57that could be used and should be used when campaigning. But the use of social media just with TikTok, you got Instagram.
05:04You know, I think Facebook is the old one at this point. But that's how you really get to people.
05:09You know, look everywhere around you. Everyone's on their phones. Notifications are everywhere.
05:14And that's how really people are getting their news. You know, when I know when we want to look something up,
05:18we go to TikTok or Instagram nowadays. So, absolutely.
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