Susan Hall has been announced as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London following a vote from Conservative members. The final results were:
Susan Hall – 57%
Moz Hossain – 43%
Neil Garratt AM, the Leader of City Hall Conservatives, welcomed Susan’s selection and said:
“Congratulations to my colleague Susan Hall on becoming Conservative Candidate for Mayor of London! Susan has been holding the Mayor to account for many years and is the absolute right person to take on this challenge. I’m looking forward to continuing working with her as she puts forward her vision for London.”
Now she’s just got to beat Sadiq…
Robert Buckland tells Guido he is backing Moz Hossain for London Mayor. The former Cabinet Minister revealed his endorsement this afternoon:
“Moz is the candidate who will defeat Sadiq Khan next May. His remarkable story will command Londoners’ attention and his 21 years experience as a criminal barrister and now KC make him best placed to litigate the case against Sadiq Khan. I’m honoured to be supporting him and I urge my fellow Conservatives in London to vote for him to be our candidate for Mayor.”
Moz also has the support of Priti Patel and Iain Duncan Smith. Three big beasts rowing behind the wildcard – will it be enough? Six days to go…
Moz Hossain’s mayoral campaign team are insistent their man hasn’t been knocked off course and is still a “winner“, despite yesterday’s car-crash interview on GB News. Speaking to Camilla Tominey, the wildcard London mayoral candidate failed to give yes-or-no answers to a series of quick-fire questions on Rwanda, net zero and the EU, with both Paul Scully and Samuel Kasumu later piling on criticism as the clip made the rounds last night. The interview is a case study in what happens when a non-politician is thrown in at the deep end…
Even so, Moz’s team are “buoyant“… even if the Tominey grilling was “messy” and he needs more media experience. They told Guido that despite the clumsiness, his positions on the topics raised in the interview are “more aligned” with the London electorate than the Tory base, and he “didn’t fall into a trap” of giving away soundbites to a Labour attack campaign. He doesn’t want to “win the primary and lose the election”. Although stumbling over the answers like that will probably show up in a campaign ad somewhere anyway…
Susan Hall, meanwhile, has fired back over Sadiq Khan’s “endorsement” for her campaign on Friday. Her team tell Guido it was “an admirable attempt at reverse psychology by Sadiq Khan, but we all know it is Susan he truly fears.” Anyone who’s watched their clashes in the London Assembly will know they’re not exactly best of friends…
The endorsement no one was looking for has arrived: Sadiq Khan has ‘endorsed’ Susan Hall to be the Tories’ London Mayoral candidate. Speaking in the London Assembly yesterday, Sadiq threw his hat in for the woman who routinely mauls him in the very same chamber, joking he’d “like Susan” to take him on in the electoral clash next year. Team Moz have already churned out a campaign graphic, obviously…
Moz has picked up another big endorsement for his London Mayoral campaign. This morning Priti Patel has confirmed she is backing his bid for the Tory candidacy, following the likes of Iain Duncan Smith in rowing behind the previously-unknown wildcard. She tells Guido:
“The governance of London requires radical change and fresh Conservative leadership. I want a London which is safe for everyone, open to the world, dynamic and no longer in retreat. Moz Hossain can beat Labour’s Sadiq Khan and make London safe and a great City again. He will bring policing back into London’s communities, scrap the ULEZ tax on our drivers and make London open for business again. Conservative members have the strongest choice in Moz to beat Sadiq Khan and now is the time to vote for this change.”
Voting begins tomorrow, with the final candidate set to be announced on 19th July. Team Moz are keen to push out new polling from Savanta, published in the Mail on Sunday, showing Londoners think a criminal lawyer (like him) is best placed to cut crime and reform the Metropolitan Police. Susan Hall, the grassroots’ favourite, is still banking on her Assembly experience to carry her over the line. All to play for…
