Lord Khan: Should he stay or should he go?

When Andy Burnham left the London Labour Party reception on Saturday night, he urged them to play London Calling by The Clash.

But the talk amongst the capital's Labour folk in Liverpool over the last few days might suggest a different and more appropriate song by the same band - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Because everyone I've met has been asking the same question about London's mayor.

Will he, they wonder, try to stand again to be his party's candidate and run for a fourth term in 2028? Or will the newly ennobled Lord Khan decide to move on to pastures new?

Make no bones about it, there are already people on manoeuvres hoping to stand if he doesn't. Most vocal is the Brent East MP Dawn Butler - not shy about her ambitions for a vacancy that doesn't yet exist.

But there are others yet to declare, others being talked about as possible candidates if the mayor does decide to go. People like Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan, an A&E doctor who represents Lord Khan's former seat, like former Housing Secretary Steve Reed, and other people wondering if Minister for Homelessness Florence Eshalomi may be the person to step up.

So why the rush - after all, the next election isn't till May 2028? Well a lot of the people I've spoken to here point out that the other major parties are already pushing ahead with their plans.

Former Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly looks favourite to be the Conservative candidate by the end of the year. Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney looks likely to win the Lib Dem nomination and Reform already have their candidate Laila Cunningham in place.

"We're getting left behind", one Labour person told me. "Sadiq needs to make up his mind for the good of the party", says another. "The longer he leaves it, the less time it would leave for anyone else to make their mark", one MP tells me.

Everyone I spoke to believes the current situation isn't one that can continue until next year.

The prime minister himself told me last week that he backed Lord Khan as mayor and would leave it to him to decide the next move. "He's got my full support and backing in whatever he decides to do," he said.

The next mayoral election will be a big test for Labour in the capital and it will come a year before the next general election.

"Losing London would be a disaster," one activist told me. "If Sadiq does decide he's going to stand down we will need as long as possible to sell our new candidate to people."

The mayor, of course, doesn't have to stand down. There is no limit on how many times someone can stand as mayor. He has already held the post for longer than Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, having been elected in 2016.

So what is he going to do? Here's our exchange from the banks of the Mersey:

Karl Mercer:

Can we talk a bit about your future? Because everyone I've been speaking to from London has been talking about you. They want to know when you're going to make your decision to stay or go as Mayor, and they're discussing the effects that not knowing is having on the party itself in London.

Lord Khan:

When I first ran to be Mayor, I made the decision a year before the election. Every time I've started an election and won, I've made my decision a year before the election. The next election is May 2028, and I think it's right that I should follow the same process as last time. So next year in 2027, I'll be setting up my plans. But I'm loving the job. I've got plenty of fuel in the tank, I'm fizzing with ideas. Oxford Street for the first time ever will be traffic free on 26 October.

Karl Mercer:

A legacy project? Because then you can say 'I've done Oxford Street and now it's time for me to go'?

Lord Khan:

No, I think when you're much older than I am, you talk about legacy. We've done, I think, three terms already. We've delivered a huge amount. Our city is greener, safer, healthier, more prosperous, more affordable. I want to do more.

Karl Mercer:

You want to do more, as in running for a fourth term? Has anyone at the top of the party said to you 'would you please stand again because we can't afford to lose London in 2028'?

Lord Khan:

I mean, I've got echoes in my ear of colleagues in government and the Parliamentary Labour Party chanting 'four-more-years', but look, it's very important I do what's best for London. My motivation has always been to do what's best for this great city that gave me and my family everything, the helping hand that allowed us after working hard to achieve our potential.

Karl Mercer:

But what about doing what's right for the party? Because you know as well as everybody else does, at this conference and in the London Labour Party, that there are people who want your job and they want certainty about when they can run.

Lord Khan:

I think it's right and proper that people should want the best job in the world, which would be the Mayor of London, whether you're a Count Binface or whether you're a Labour MP, whether you're a Tory or a Lib Dem or a Green. If you believe in public service, if you love London, you should want to be Mayor and that's a good thing.

Karl Mercer:

But do you not think that your indecision and lack of a timetable, a definite timetable, is making it harder for the party?

Lord Khan:

Well, I've been quite decisive and quite clear. I'll make a decision about my future in the year before the election, like I've done in 2016, in 2020, in 2024 and will do so again for 2028.

Karl Mercer:

The year before the election, does that mean January? Does it mean May? Does it mean September? When next year?

Lord Khan

Well, the next election is in May 2028, so a year before that.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk