--- description: The giant balloon likeness of London mayor Sadiq Khan will fly on Sept. 1, after organizers received permission from city authorities title: Blimp Resembling Bikini-Clad Sadiq Khan to Fly Over London image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [United Kingdom](/tag/united-kingdom/) ## United Kingdom Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Blimp Resembling a Bikini-Clad Sadiq Khan Will Be Allowed to Fly Over London by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2018 6:52 AM CUT by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2018 6:52 AM CUT A [giant balloon likeness](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-45352622 "undefined") of London Mayor Sadiq Khan will take to the skies Sept. 1, after organizers received permission from city authorities to fly their protest blimp over the U.K. capital’s Parliament Square. The balloon, which portrays the mayor sporting a yellow bikini, is backed by a [crowdfunded campaign](https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/giant-sadiq-khan-baby-balloon-to-fly-over-london "undefined") organized after a [“Trump Baby” blimp](http://time.com/5331447/trump-baby-inflatable-london-khan/ "undefined") [flew over protests](http://time.com/5338370/trump-london-protests/ "undefined") during President Donald Trump’s visit to London in July, the BBC reports. Khan’s infantilizing inflatable is similarly intended “to demonstrate our unhappiness with \[Khan\],” the campaign organizer wrote, and to “see if FREE SPEECH applies to all.” The campaign added that any surplus funds would be dedicated to efforts to unseat Khan and “for defending free speech which is constantly under attack.” At time of writing, it had raised £59,382 ($77,264). > [](https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/1035181355058061319) Khan, the son of Pakistani immigrants, was elected London’s first Muslim mayor in May 2016. **Read more:** [_Sadiq Khan | TIME 100 2018_](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217530/sadiq-khan/ "undefined") The balloon’s design is also a reference to a controversial [“Beach Body Ready” advertisement](http://time.com/3837979/beach-body-ready-protest-advertisements/ "undefined") in London Tube stations, which Khan [banned](http://time.com/4366192/london-body-shaming-ad-ban/ "undefined") in 2016, saying the image “can demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies.” Khan seemed to retain a sense of humor about the blimp made in his image. “If people want to spend their Saturday looking at me in a yellow bikini they’re welcome to do so,” he said, according to the BBC. “I don’t really think yellow’s my color though.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5383676/sadiq-khan-bikini-balloon-london/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5383676/sadiq-khan-bikini-balloon-london/"},"headline":"A Blimp Resembling a Bikini-Clad Sadiq Khan Will Be Allowed to Fly Over London","datePublished":"2018-08-31T06:52:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:18:31.599Z","description":"It imitates a blimp that flew during President Trump's visit to London in July","url":"https://time.com/5383676/sadiq-khan-bikini-balloon-london/","keywords":["United Kingdom","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/united-kingdom/","name":"United Kingdom"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5383676/sadiq-khan-bikini-balloon-london/","name":"A Blimp Resembling a Bikini-Clad Sadiq Khan Will Be Allowed to Fly Over London"}}]}] ```