“I have decided to put my name forward to be the Conservative candidate in Kensington. I have lived and worked in this wonderful part of London all my life and raised my four children there. I have been a councillor on Kensington and Chelsea council for more than 10 years and a member of the GLA for seven years. I feel I know Kensington inside out. There is hardly a street I haven’t canvassed. As a school governor for Golborne and Maxilla under the Westway, I am not just talking about the leafy parts of the borough. I regard myself as the ultimate local candidate. I love campaigning and I love meeting people and helping them sort out their problems. In political terms, I love getting my hands dirty – so much so that I have even been lowered through a manhole cover into the new Thames Tideway sewer. But then, as Boris’s deputy at City Hall, I get all the best jobs. I am fiercely opposed to Labour’s mansion tax, which would hit Kensington very hard and penalise many cash-poor, asset-rich people, who bought family homes 20-30 years ago and now face an extra annual tax of £10,000 a year or more. I would do all I can to stop it.”