Congratulations to Susan Hall who has been chosen to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. The real contest now gets under way to defeat Sadiq Khan in May next year.
Hall won by a clear margin – 57 per cent to 43 per cent for Moz Hossain. All Conservative Party members in the capital were entitled to vote. Her victory is not surprising. She had the highest number of endorsements. That reflected her credentials as a former Leader of Harrow Council and a former Leader of the Conservative Group in the London Assembly. She has written several times for this site.
In a statement on Twitter, Hall said:
“It is a huge honour to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, I’m so grateful to everyone for their support. Thanks Moz Hossain for his positive and hard fought campaign. I will work tirelessly to defeat Sadiq Khan and offer Londoners the change we need.”
The selection process did not go entirely smoothly. There was a surprise that Paul Scully, the Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam and Minister for London, was not shortlisted. He endorsed Hall over the weekend in a piece for the Sunday Telegraph.
Daniel Korski did make the shortlist but he withdrew shortly before the voting got underway. This was after allegations of “groping” which he strongly denied. That incident then led to a broader criticism of vetting arrangements for Conservative candidates and if those regarded as “modernisers” are treated more leniently than others.
Some will see this as a missed opportunity to challenge stereotypes about the Conservatives. James Johnson made the case against “safety first” when the odds are against you so something unexpected would shake things up.
Hossain grew up in a family of ten in a mud-floored shack in Bangladesh, he didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 16. Khan was elected Mayor after stressing his humble origins, as the son of a bus driver, Hossain retorted that his dad never saw a bus in the village they lived in. As Glen Owen reflected in the Mail on Sunday, the Mayoral contest could have resembled “Monty Python’s Four Yorkshiremen sketch, in which characters compete to describe the most poverty-stricken childhood: ‘Cardboard box? You were lucky!’ “.
But Hossain proved inexperienced politically and not well known among London Conservatives. When pressed for his views on a range of policies, in an interview with Camilla Tominey on GB News, his answers were evasive.
Hall has proven to be a confident and energetic Conservative champion. She offers a robust, common sense approach to tackling the significant problems the capital faces – notably on housing, transport, policing and the environment. While her message is proudly and distinctively Conservative she is no Government mouthpiece. That streak of independence is vital in a Mayoral candidate.
Winning in London has become challenging for the Conservatives in recent years. If Labour still has a big opinion poll lead next May it will be very challenging indeed. Yet we were reminded by Alex Crowley last week that Khan’s ratings are poor and so defeating him should not be impossible.
Opposition to the ULEZ extension is likely to prove a significant factor. The by-election tomorrow in Uxbridge and South Ruislip will give us a clue to how strong feelings are.
UPDATE
A couple of points to add: