Sadiq Khan DJs at youth club on London mayoral campaign trail

Following the closure of more than 1,000 venues across the capital in the past three years, it is little wonder Sadiq Khan has been accused of being out of tune with Londoners.

But the Labour mayor sought to prove his detractors wrong by DJing at a youth club in south London ahead of seeking re-election on Thursday.

Mr Khan played Abba’s Dancing Queen as he took to the decks at Croydon Voluntary Action before mixing it into Lovin’ On Me by Jack Harlow, an American rapper who found fame through TikTok.

He told youngsters: “You know you wanna dance” as he mashed up the two songs, and was also filmed clapping along to Rick Astley’s 1987 classic Never Gonna Give You Up.

Conservative austerity

“DJ Khan is available for bar mitzvahs, weddings and birthdays,” he quipped, later telling reporters: “What we’ve seen over the last 14 years is lots of youth clubs closing down, lots of youth workers losing their jobs as a consequence of Conservative austerity.

“What we’ve tried to do is support youth workers and youth clubs, often bringing them together because we’re duplicating services, duplicating provision.

“This isn’t just about reducing crime, it’s also about young people flourishing and thriving, so lots of things we’re doing from City Hall.”

Victory for Mr Khan on Thursday would represent a historic third term in City Hall and opinion polls show he has a double-digit lead over Susan Hall, his Tory rival.

But after a fraught campaign, which has seen personal clashes between the two frontrunners, Conservative activists remain hopeful that Mr Khan could be facing the music when the results are announced on Saturday.