Driven to succeed: meet London’s youngest black-cab driver

“I ’ve got T-shirts older than you!” The joke draws laughter from a table of black-cab drivers gathered in the Astral cafe on Regency Place in Westminster. Around the table, cabbies swap stories accumulated over decades behind the wheel: picking up the England World Cup hero Geoff Hurst, ferrying senior politicians around London, and navigating the capital long before smartphones and satnavs existed. At just 21, Bahrain Mujagata is an anomaly among them. In late 2025, he became London’s youngest licensed black-cab driver after completing the Knowledge – the notoriously demanding test of the capital’s streets – in just two years and five months. Most candidates take three to four years to qualify, according to Transport for London. Outside Charing Cross station, a security guard spots Mujagata and immediately pulls out his phone. “I’ve never ever seen a cabby this young,” he says, laughing as he takes a picture. “My family won’t believe this.” Mujagata has become used to the reaction. Customers have given him flowers, chocolates, tips and even Formula One tickets after discovering his age. Sometimes, people flag him down only to say hello. “Very many customers have noticed me before,” he says. “They don’t even take the cab. They’ll just stop me and go: ‘I know who you are.’ And I’ll be disappointed and happy at the same time because I thought I got a job.” Mujagata with fellow cabbies at the Astral cafe in Westminster. …