Alex Challoner was a prospective London Mayoral Candidate and is Director of London Vision Network.
This is an article I really didn’t want to have to write, but sadly, my mayoral ambitions have come to an end.
I am not fated to be the Conservative nominee to take on Sadiq Khan (or whichever Cabinet reject Labour select to replace him) in 2028. I didn’t make it from the longlist on to the shortlist. Although personally disappointed, I am optimistic that our party is on course for their first victory in a mayoral election since 2012. The three shortlisted candidates are all seasoned campaigners and talented policymakers who are more than capable of taking the fight to Labour. More importantly, each will make a much better mayor than Sadiq Khan.
I will support the successful Conservative nominee wholeheartedly, back them full-throatedly, and campaign for them assiduously. Whoever tops the ballot to be our ‘Shadow Mayor’ should have the unequivocal support of every Conservative activist and member in the capital. 2028 is our best chance to oust Labour from City Hall. It is vital we seize that chance with both hands.
I have never believed that London is a Labour city. Conservatives can (and have) achieved victory in London. But we must accept that every election is an uphill battle. We have to fight for every vote. To win control of City Hall in 2028, the Conservatives need to win two battles: the battle for the airwaves, and the battle for ideas.
Winning the first battle is easier. Once we have a candidate selected, they need to be all over the airwaves winning the media battle. When they are not touring the media studios, they need to be writing op-eds or making Tik-Toks to take the fight to Labour. Sadiq Khan is never around when things go wrong. Every time he messes up, botches an initiative or ducks a big decision, our candidate needs to be visible in calling him out. Every tube strike. Every missed housing target. Every tax hike. Based on Sadiq’s record in office thus far, this will be a full-time job.
Winning the second battle – the battle of ideas – is harder, but no less essential. Simply calling out the mayor’s mistakes will not carry the Conservatives over the line. After more than a decade of failure at City Hall, Sadiq’s incompetence is, to some extent, priced in with London’s electorate.
For all his efforts to gaslight the capital about crime, Londoners know the streets are less safe. Yet Khan still leads in most polls. Therefore, Conservatives need to set out a compelling policy offer. This is essential both to persuade a sceptical public and to pre-empt Labour’s attacks.
We cannot fight another London election based on the same old, well-rehearsed attack lines on congestion charging and crime as we have in the past. That is the trap that Reform UK has already fallen in to; running a dull, repetitive and negative campaign that fails to inspire, fails to offer hope, and fails to connect. We need to be bold and imaginative in policy terms. The Conservatives need to offer some serious hope of reprieve for the capital’s citizenry.
A robust, well-researched manifesto will also allow us to define the terms the 2028 election is fought upon. Without ideas of our own we risk fighting the next mayoral election on political territory defined by Labour. We can spend the next London elections answering Labour’s questions – would we maintain Khan’s overly generous programme for universal free school meals? If we scrap the ULEZ then what will we do about declining air quality? – or we can chose to set the terms of debate for ourselves.
Let us let Labour et al respond to our agenda: a Conservative plan to cut the red tape that stops us building enough homes, a clear commitment to restore police numbers and drive down street crime, a serious policy to finally fight the growing epidemics of sexual assault, rampant fare evasion and graffiti on the transport network, and a real programme to ease the tax and regulatory burden upon the capital’s businesses. It isn’t enough to merely outgun our rivals in terms of campaigning or social media. We need to outthink them too.
It has been an honour and privilege to seek the party’s nomination this time. But, and it might sound odd, I hope that, when it comes to selecting a mayoral candidate for the 2032 City Hall elections, that I will not feel compelled to throw my hat into the ring again. I hope that we will have a strong Tory incumbent already doing the job; that that Conservative mayor will be fixing the capital’s problems and reversing the decade-long saga of decline that Labour have inflicted upon London. Indeed, isn’t that what all Conservatives should hope?
Alex Challoner was a prospective London Mayoral Candidate and is Director of London Vision Network.
This is an article I really didn’t want to have to write, but sadly, my mayoral ambitions have come to an end.
I am not fated to be the Conservative nominee to take on Sadiq Khan (or whichever Cabinet reject Labour select to replace him) in 2028. I didn’t make it from the longlist on to the shortlist. Although personally disappointed, I am optimistic that our party is on course for their first victory in a mayoral election since 2012. The three shortlisted candidates are all seasoned campaigners and talented policymakers who are more than capable of taking the fight to Labour. More importantly, each will make a much better mayor than Sadiq Khan.
I will support the successful Conservative nominee wholeheartedly, back them full-throatedly, and campaign for them assiduously. Whoever tops the ballot to be our ‘Shadow Mayor’ should have the unequivocal support of every Conservative activist and member in the capital. 2028 is our best chance to oust Labour from City Hall. It is vital we seize that chance with both hands.
I have never believed that London is a Labour city. Conservatives can (and have) achieved victory in London. But we must accept that every election is an uphill battle. We have to fight for every vote. To win control of City Hall in 2028, the Conservatives need to win two battles: the battle for the airwaves, and the battle for ideas.
Winning the first battle is easier. Once we have a candidate selected, they need to be all over the airwaves winning the media battle. When they are not touring the media studios, they need to be writing op-eds or making Tik-Toks to take the fight to Labour. Sadiq Khan is never around when things go wrong. Every time he messes up, botches an initiative or ducks a big decision, our candidate needs to be visible in calling him out. Every tube strike. Every missed housing target. Every tax hike. Based on Sadiq’s record in office thus far, this will be a full-time job.
Winning the second battle – the battle of ideas – is harder, but no less essential. Simply calling out the mayor’s mistakes will not carry the Conservatives over the line. After more than a decade of failure at City Hall, Sadiq’s incompetence is, to some extent, priced in with London’s electorate.
For all his efforts to gaslight the capital about crime, Londoners know the streets are less safe. Yet Khan still leads in most polls. Therefore, Conservatives need to set out a compelling policy offer. This is essential both to persuade a sceptical public and to pre-empt Labour’s attacks.
We cannot fight another London election based on the same old, well-rehearsed attack lines on congestion charging and crime as we have in the past. That is the trap that Reform UK has already fallen in to; running a dull, repetitive and negative campaign that fails to inspire, fails to offer hope, and fails to connect. We need to be bold and imaginative in policy terms. The Conservatives need to offer some serious hope of reprieve for the capital’s citizenry.
A robust, well-researched manifesto will also allow us to define the terms the 2028 election is fought upon. Without ideas of our own we risk fighting the next mayoral election on political territory defined by Labour. We can spend the next London elections answering Labour’s questions – would we maintain Khan’s overly generous programme for universal free school meals? If we scrap the ULEZ then what will we do about declining air quality? – or we can chose to set the terms of debate for ourselves.
Let us let Labour et al respond to our agenda: a Conservative plan to cut the red tape that stops us building enough homes, a clear commitment to restore police numbers and drive down street crime, a serious policy to finally fight the growing epidemics of sexual assault, rampant fare evasion and graffiti on the transport network, and a real programme to ease the tax and regulatory burden upon the capital’s businesses. It isn’t enough to merely outgun our rivals in terms of campaigning or social media. We need to outthink them too.
It has been an honour and privilege to seek the party’s nomination this time. But, and it might sound odd, I hope that, when it comes to selecting a mayoral candidate for the 2032 City Hall elections, that I will not feel compelled to throw my hat into the ring again. I hope that we will have a strong Tory incumbent already doing the job; that that Conservative mayor will be fixing the capital’s problems and reversing the decade-long saga of decline that Labour have inflicted upon London. Indeed, isn’t that what all Conservatives should hope?