Sadig and the city: For me, romance Is surprising my wife

In honour of Valentine’s Day, the Mayor gives Katie Strick the exclusive scoop on dates at McDonald's and his advice for singles

SADIQ KHAN - the man hoping to break a new record as London's first mayor to secure a historic third term if he wins the vote in less than 80 days - is telling me about his mission to give more hugs. "I went from having six brothers and a sister, to having two children who are women... I think that more female environment has changed my behaviour for the better," the former human rights lawyer and Labour MP for Tooting tells me, shortly after pulling our editor Dylan Jones into a warm embrace as he arrives at our Evening Standard offices.

"Now I make a point of giving hugs to my male friends, to my colleagues, to people I haven't seen in a while. It's a way of showing love without needing to say 'I love you"" Love, fatherhood and public displays of affection might not be regular subjects for the man in charge of our capital's transport, housing and climate policies for the last eight years and more commonly pressed on subjects from London's ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to soaring crime rates and how likely he really is to beat Tory rival Susan Hall in the mayoral election in May.

But this is the point. Khan, 53, is here to take part in a special Valentine's episode of our new dating podcast, London Love Stories with Katie Strick, and appears to be enjoying a rare chance to talk about these softer, fuzzier elements of his day-to-day.

This could be date nights with wife Saadiya, 52, or the weekly games of football and tennis with his friends in Tooting an example of the non-romantic forms of love that the pandemic taught him were just as important for mental wellbeing as the romantic stuff.