Nominations for the Tories’ candidate for London Mayor closed at 0900 sharp this morning, with CCHQ expected to “sift” the applicants and slim the field down by this Friday. A final shortlist of two or three candidates will be decided on June 4^th. Hustings will take place from June 12^th to July 3^rd, before voting opens to members from July 4^th to July 18^th. The final candidate will be confirmed on the 19^th…

Here are the nine who have publicly declared an interest:

• Paul Scully – Minister for London and Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy
• Susan Hall – Former Leader of the London Conservatives
• Andrew Boff – Chair of the London Assembly
• Samuel Kasumu – Former Special Advisor to Boris Johnson
• Daniel Korski – Deputy Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit under David Cameron
• Natalie Campbell – Co-chief of ethical bottled-water business Belu, former Royal aide
• Alex Challoner – Founder of Cavendish Communications and former adviser to the Tories in the 1990s
• Duwayne Brooks – Former LibDem councillor, joined the Tories in 2018. Longlisted for London Mayor in 2020
• Natasha Asghar – Conservative Regional Member of the Welsh Parliament. Shadow Minister for Transport and Technology

Kit Malthouse has reportedly decided not to stand…