The mystery of Sadiq Khan’s missing pronouns
The notoriously woke mayor of London has been caught quietly removing the ‘he / him’ from his X bio.

Want to read spiked ad-free? Become a spiked supporter.
Is Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, a man or a woman? It may now be impossible to tell, given that his pronouns have been removed from his bio on X.
Conservative commentator Chris Rose spotted the omission over the weekend, noticing that Khan’s ‘he / him’ pronouns were suddenly missing. Rose tweeted: ‘Looks like the tide is turning and this type of virtue-signalling is no longer trendy.’
Sadiq Khan has removed the pronouns from his Twitter/X bio.
Looks like the tide is turning and this type of virtue signalling is no longer trendy. pic.twitter.com/sj6Kx4rPTH
— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) February 1, 2025
Given that Khan’s bio already describes him as both a husband and father, perhaps he thought this might be enough to convey that he is, in fact, a man. And it’s true that – especially across the pond – this kind of trans-pandering is on the retreat, with new US president Donald Trump removing the need for government employees to include their pronouns in correspondence.
Still, the pronoun removal is a surprising move for Khan. The London mayor usually loves to pose as a vociferous defender of ‘trans rights’. He has taken great pleasure in instructing his staff at City Hall to use trans-inclusive language in the workplace. He has even banned them from addressing Londoners as ‘ladies and gentlemen’, in case it causes offence to those who don’t feel they fit in either category. Nor is Khan likely to have been inspired by the actions of Trump, who he recently described as heralding ‘resurgent fascism’.
A spokesman for the mayor has since reassured us that the pronoun removal is not permanent and ‘seems to be a technical error, which we’ll put right as soon as possible’. Apparently, this tech error is proving curiously difficult to rectify. More than 24 hours later, Khan’s pronouns remain missing on X, although anyone who is still unable to discern whether he is a man or a woman can head over to Bluesky, where his ‘he / him’ pronouns are still proudly on display.
The real mystery here, of course, is not over Sadiq Khan’s gender. Every Londoner and his / her dog knows the mayor is a man. What we really need to get to the bottom of is why politicians like Khan have fallen over themselves to make these absurd pronoun pronouncements in the first place.
Lauren Smith is a staff writer at spiked.
Comments
Want to join the conversation?
Only spiked supporters and patrons, who donate regularly to us, can comment on our articles.