For most of America, there’s only one election in 2016 that matters. But another one taking place over in the U.K. also bears watching. In May, London will elect its new mayor. And the story behind the frontrunner, Sadiq Khan, makes it worth briefly shifting attention from South Carolina to South Clapham.

Sadiq Khan is a Labour MP for the ethnically diverse ward of Tooting, south London, near to where Khan grew up and where he served as a local councilor. He is regarded as a moderate. He has denounced terrorism and taken socially liberal positions, voting for gay marriage in 2013, for example. He is also running in a heavily pro-Labour city; that there has been a Tory mayor for the last eight years is largely testament to the seemingly limitless likeability of the foppish Boris Johnson. Yet Johnson is stepping down and a recent poll put Khan 10 points ahead of his Conservative rival, Zac Goldsmith. It is all set up for him.