Thirteen candidates are standing for election in May 2nd’s London Mayoral contest.
Labour candidate Sadiq Khan is seeking an historic third term as mayor, having served in the role since 2016.
He has championed his free school meals programme and the fact that he has frozen Transport for London (TfL) single pay-as-you-go fares five times during his mayoralty, “saving Londoners hundreds of pounds”.
He said in 2023 that he was standing again “so we can finish the job of reforming the police service, we can finish the job of cleaning the air in our city, we can finish the job of the post-pandemic recovery, we can finish the job to build far more genuinely affordable homes that Londoners desperately need – and much more”.
Under the supplementary vote system used in the 2021 mayoral election, Mr Khan received 40 per cent of first preference votes, rising to 55.2 per cent once second preferences had been counted. This year’s election will be conducted using first past the post however, meaning that Londoners will only be able to vote for one candidate.
Conservative candidate Susan Hall has served as a member of the London Assembly since 2017 and as a councillor in Harrow since 2006.
Ms Hall has pledged to remove the outer London expansion of the Ultra low emission zone (Ulez) “on day one” of her mayoralty, arguing that it has “been absolutely devastating for people who cannot afford to go to work, get to the hospital or visit their family”.
She has said her campaign will be focused on delivering “safer streets and more money in your pocket”.
The candidate has promised to invest £200m into the Met Police and to set up specialist units within the police to tackle burglaries, robberies, and thefts.
On housing, Ms Hall has promised to “build a lot more homes in the right places… homes that people want to live in, which do not disrupt existing communities or the Green Belt”.
She believes that most low traffic neighbourhoods “just create congestion and worsen air quality” and has said she would encourage councils to remove them, while removing 20mph limits from main roads controlled by Transport for London (TfL).
The Conservatives’ 2021 candidate, Shaun Bailey, received 35.3 per cent of first preference votes, rising to 44.8 per cent once second preferences had been counted.
Green Party candidate Zoë Garbett is a councillor in Dalston, Hackney. She pledges to de-prioritise the policing of cannabis and to make public transport more affordable – including free bus travel for under-22s. A vocal opponent of the Silvertown Tunnel’s construction, she says it should be repurposed for public transport and is a “blight” on Mr Khan’s climate record. Ms Garbett would also lobby for rent control powers, boost council housing and address “huge failings” in the Met Police. The Greens came third in 2021’s mayoral election, winning 7.8 per cent of first preference votes.
Liberal Democrat candidate Rob Blackie says he will “get the police to focus on serious crimes and earn the respect of Londoners”. He believes the Met is “wasting time on low level drug offences like laughing gas” and should be freed up “to investigate rapes and serious sexual offences properly”. He has pledged to help undocumented Londoners by providing legal support to secure their British status, as well as cleaning up the capital’s rivers and boosting solar power on rooftops. The Lib Dems came fourth in 2021, securing 4.4 per cent of first preference votes and losing their £10,000 deposit.
Reform UK candidate Howard Cox is founder of the FairFuelUK campaign. He has pledged to scrap the entire Ulez and “extensively increase policing visibility 24/7 to cut crime and make streets safer for all”. He would also “massively increase affordable housing numbers, particularly for young and low-income families”.
Femy Amin is the Animal Welfare Party’s candidate. She’s promised to fight for what she calls a “liveable planet”, including a commitment to prioritise the climate and biodiversity crises in all decision-making.
Count Binface of the Count Binface Party is again throwing his “lid into the mayoral ring”. In 2021’s contest, he promised to rename London Bridge “after Phoebe Waller” and for no shop to be allowed to sell croissants for more than £1.
Natalie Campbell was originally longlisted to be the Tory candidate, but failed to make the party’s shortlist. Not long afterwards, she announced that he would be running as an independent, setting out her stall as a “centrist, middle of the road candidate”. She has said she would look to progress the Bakerloo line extension into south-east London, and would create more ‘mayoral development corporations’ to ensure the right homes are built “in the right places”.
Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Amy Gallagher says she will “push back on woke ideology”. She also pledges to “depoliticise the police” and make transport free for under-25s.
Tarun Ghulati, an investment banker running as an independent, has pledged to “get London moving again”, while strengthening community cohesion and improving policing. He has promised to completely scrap the Ulez and to remove the congestion charge on weekends, as well as pledging to re-open closed police stations in areas with high crime rates.
Independent candidate Andreas Michli is a gym owner from Haringey who has promised to provide free gym memberships for all Londoners, paid for by City Hall. He has also said that he would impose “significantly higher physical standards” for new Met Police recruits, which would be “closer to military standards”. Police officers would also all be trained “in defensive martial arts”. He has proposed abolishing the capital’s net zero targets.
Brian Rose is another 2021 candidate who is standing for a second time. He stood under the banner of his London Real party in the previous contest, receiving 1.2 per cent of votes cast. Mr Rose has pledged to ensure “freedom of speech is protected” and wants to “make London a ‘crypto-first’ city” by “positioning it as world leader for blockchain technology”. He has also said he would privatise Transport for London and abolishing the Ulez.
Finally, there’s Britain First candidate Nick Scanlon. He claims London is “fast becoming a Third World cesspit” and has promised to eradicate knife crime and to house homeless veterans.
The deadline to register to vote is 11:59pm on Tuesday, April 16. If you want a postal vote, you’ll need to apply by 5pm on Wednesday, April 17.
Photos: Labour’s Sadiq Khan, Rob Blackie of the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK’s Howard Cox and Conservative Susan Hall
