The Guardian view on Zohran Mamdani’s task: a high-stakes test case for progressive ambition | Editorial

The multiple firsts achieved by New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, have been well chronicled: he is the first Muslim to occupy that role, the first south Asian and the first to be born in Africa. He is also the youngest mayor of the largest city in the United States for over a century, having received more votes in November’s election than any candidate since the 1960s. And politically, he is probably the most leftwing incumbent of the office since Fiorello La Guardia in the 1930s and 40s.

Hardly surprising then, that Mr Mamdani’s extraordinary rise to prominence should be accompanied by high expectations and tense anticipation. At last Thursday’s inauguration ceremony, he promised to “govern expansively and audaciously”. Whether he succeeds in doing so will have considerable ramifications for progressive politics more widely.

Pledging to make New York “a city we can afford”, Mr Mamdani campaigned on plans to introduce free universal childcare, hugely increase the availability of cheaper housing, and generally reduce everyday costs of living for residents. In order to finance this programme, he has restated his intention to raise tax rates on the very wealthy, and on corporations. Linking the vision of a livable metropolis to a politics of redistribution, this approach has assembled a coalition of voters ranging from young renters to union members, migrants and the professional middle classes.

Progressive parties around the world have taken note. The political dynamics of New York, the home of Wall Street and a global centre for the arts, are not straightforwardly generalisable. But the affordability agenda that delivered Mr Mamdani’s flagship success has also fuelled a political revival for Democrats in states such as New Jersey and Virginia. In Europe too, the centre-left has fared best when focusing relentlessly on improving everyday life for the less well-off. The surprise victory of the D66 party in the recent Dutch election, for example, was largely attributed to its apparent seriousness about addressing the Netherlands’ chronic housing shortage.

Mr Mamdani thus finds himself a youthful trailblazer for a radical politics of civic renewal and inclusion that, if it works, could counter more generally the rise of the populist far right. Donald Trump promised a “blue-collar boom” when he was re-elected. He has instead presided over a widening equality gap, in which the wealthy have disproportionately benefited from tax cuts and a soaring stock market. There is space here for a new working-class politics of the left. In that spirit, Mr Mamdani’s head of budget, Sherif Soliman, has stated that New York needs to be a livable home not just for Wall Street bankers, but for “low-wage workers, be it in retail or healthcare”.

Formidable headwinds await, not least federal funding negotiations with a hostile Mr Trump, and opposition to what – in historical terms – would be modest tax rises for high-income earners. There will also need to be some skilful coalition-building, not least with the Democratic governor of New York state, Kathy Hochul, who has previously spoken out against the hikes. Nevertheless, the political courage shown by New York’s charismatic new mayor during his ascent to power suggests that, in the heartland of global capital, he has the ability to make a difference. In an era in which swathes of blue-collar voters continue to drift rightwards, the stakes are high indeed.