Sadiq Khan has flown Pride and minority community flags from City Hall more often than the St George's Cross since the headquarters moved to the Royal Docks in 2022. The records show seven different inclusivity flags, while England's flag appeared on six occasions.
Alex Wilson, the leader of Reform UK's London Assembly Group, said: "Sadiq Khan doesn't care about London and he certainly doesn't care about Great Britain!" He added that it was "entirely within Sadiq Khan's power" to decide which flags are flown at City Hall and when.
City Hall flag records
The official records cover City Hall's flag choices from 2022 onward. They show Pride-related banners including bisexual, lesbian, transgender and intersex-inclusive pride flags, along with the Progress Pride flag. Khan also flew the Windrush flag and the Romani flag, and raised the national flags of Jamaica, Wales, Scotland and Ukraine.
By comparison, the St George's Cross appeared six times over the same period. Five of those occasions fell on St George's Day, April 23, while the sixth followed a request from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport when England reached the Euro 2024 final.
Alex Wilson criticism
Wilson said the Mayor should use the same power to fly the English flag more often. He said, "Now, during what's likely to be his last World Cup as Mayor of London, is the perfect time for him to see sense, support our lads and fly the English flag with pride," tying the criticism to the flag record rather than to any one event at City Hall.
Susan Hall also criticised the Mayor's record. The dispute now sits on the gap between the 2021 guidance, which encourages councils to fly national flags more frequently and says no special permission is required, and City Hall's record since 2022.
2021 guidance and 2022 record
The guidance and the records point in opposite directions: one calls for more frequent national-flag use, while the other shows City Hall choosing inclusivity flags more often than the St George's Cross. That leaves the next question on the Mayor's own decision-making at City Hall.
How Khan chose which flags to fly on each occasion since 2022 is the part the records do not answer. For Londoners reading the figure now, the dispute is no longer about one display but about a repeated pattern at City Hall.
