Paul Scully is the Minister for London and the MP for Sutton and Cheam.
Agree with them or not, most Mayors around the UK look as though they believe in their cities and the people they represent. Sadiq Khan treats London as a career platform.
Firstly, for his Labour leadership ambitions, now for his book. What next? He doesn’t care if he’s Mayor for London or for Gotham City. He just wants the glory of being Mayor, and not the responsibility.
In the meantime, Londoners pay the price. That’s soon to be costed at £12.50 per day for thousands of low-income residents, small business owners, and charities across the capital falling foul of Khan’s ULEZ expansion.
The world’s greatest city, capital of the UK, and home to some nine million people does not need a Mayor who treats it solely as a platform to virtue signal.
London needs someone who wants its people to succeed, with a positive vision for its prosperity and, most importantly, who can get things done.
My father came to the UK from Burma as an 18-year-old around the time the Windrush generation were coming from the opposite side of the world.
He didn’t drive a bus, but completed his apprenticeship on the docks in Glasgow and continued as an engineer throughout his career.
I’m extremely proud of my heritage but that doesn’t get a single house built, make anyone feel safer, or keep Londoners moving around the city. Values are important in helping define us, but they are an ingredient, not a solution.
Khan has recently launched his campaign website claiming that he is “standing up for London.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. He should be honest and admit he is “standing on London” crushing its aspirations underfoot.
This is why I have declared my intention to run for the Conservative Party nomination to be the candidate for Mayor of London.
As Minister for London and across four government departments, I have delivered real outcomes in government for this great city, and I believe that I am the best candidate for the Conservative Party to liberate this wonderful city and Londoners from the grip of Khan and Labour.
I pledge that I will deliver on scrapping ULEZ and on tackling crime, transport, and housing. I’ll work to improve the look and feel of central London, the shop window to our country for visitors and investors.
Seven years of Khan has brought us to the point where the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade are both in special measures, Transport for London (TfL) is bust, and, despite his recent rhetoric, nowhere near enough homes are being built.
Massive regeneration opportunities such as Old Oak Common, Thamesmead, and the Thames Estuary, are pushed out to 30-year visions.
That’s way too long to satisfy existing demand, never mind the expectations and hopes of young people in the capital.
For those who are sceptical of politicians’ promises, I just ask you to look at my record.
With me, what you see is what you get – and outcome driven. I have always strived to be human first, politician second.
I got a grip on the Horizon post office scandal, possibly the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
During the pandemic I delivered on the grants which provided a lifeline for London’s hospitality and retail sectors – and published the first government hospitality recovery strategy, winning two hospitality industry awards along the way.
I brought in extra support within the workplace for domestic abuse sufferers.
I have cut through Whitehall bureaucracy to secure positive, compassionate change.
I delivered on securing £500 million to build a new hospital and improve St Helier hospital as a local MP in Sutton and Cheam.
I am a doer. That is why I am in politics.
And we – not just the Conservative Party but Londoners as a whole – can achieve so much more in City Hall with a similar focus and determination.
Perhaps when he was on his American jolly visiting a Californian cannabis farm, Khan could have thought about the real needs of Londoners. But he did not.
I know that after a pandemic and in the midst of a war which has caused a cost-of-living crisis, these are serious times.
London needs a serious Mayor with a record of delivery and getting things done.
Our candidate needs to deliver the change that is desperately needed for the greatest city on earth.
I am the one candidate who can defeat Sadiq Khan at the ballot box.
Whether you see London as the number one global city, the UK’s capital city, or the local city which nearly 9 million people call home, I have the experience, understanding, and temperament to make it even greater.
With you, I can deliver tangible improvements for Londoners and bring together coalitions and communities beyond a core party vote.
My appeal to Conservatives is to get behind me as the man who can win back London, not just for our party, but for the benefit of the millions of people who live in this city. London can be greater and with me as Mayor, it will be.