LONDON — Sadiq Khan, the son of a London bus driver, has had a remarkable rise into the upper echelons of British politics. He grew up with seven siblings in a three-bedroom home in public housing and attended state schools before becoming a human-rights lawyer and then a senior government minister.

Now Khan, 45, a lawmaker and former transport minister for the opposition Labour Party, is the favorite in the battle to become the next mayor of London. He would succeed Boris Johnson, the extroverted Conservative who has held the post since 2008 and is a leading figure in the campaign for Britain’s departure from the European Union.

A victory Thursday would make Khan the first Muslim to lead the city, where 1 in 8 residents adheres to that faith, and when Britain is struggling to integrate minorities and combat radicalization.

Londoners have elected their mayor directly only since 2000, and just two politicians have held the post: Johnson and Ken Livingstone, who ran as an independent in 2000 and then for Labour in 2004…. read more here