London mayoral race: Conservatives open candidacy to all – except die-hard Remainers | City A.M.
The Conservatives are calling on people from outside politics as well as within to apply as the party’s future mayoral candidate to take on Sadiq Khan in 2020 – but die-hard Remainers need not apply.
The Tories this morning began the process of selecting its candidate, calling for applicants from “all backgrounds and all parts of London” to make a submission before 4 July.
Sutton MP Paul Scully, who is overseeing the campaign, told City A.M. he was “trying to attract as wide a talent pool as possible, so we can really have someone who can really articulate our vision for London in a very positive way”.
Scully, who successfully fought off the efforts of Momentum during the local elections in May, said the key issues were housing, the daily commute and crime, pointing to the “harrowing” rise in knife crime this year as a concern for all Londoners.
Despite the capital having voted in favour of Remain, and the weekend’s Lewisham East by-election resulting in a win for defiantly anti-Brexit Labour candidate Janet Daby alongside a surge for the Liberal Democrats, Scully argues the mayoral race will not be about Brexit. By 2020, “we will be out” and looking forward, he claims.
“We need someone who isn’t going to rake over old arguments but see the opportunities,” the Leave-backing MP said. “There will be no going back – it has to be about making the most of it for London.”
Although he refuses to comment on any potential names – former education secretary Justine Greening appears likely – Scully points to former John Lewis boss Andy Street, now the mayor of the West Midlands, as a model for potential candidates.
“He has a proven record of delivering, he is a pragmatist… and he isn’t a politician,” he says. “You don’t need to be part of the system or part of the political establishment – if you are someone who agrees with the Conservative’s guiding principles, who realises that London is a positive, aspirational city, then come and apply,” Scully adds.
“As mayor of London part of the role is selling London – post-Brexit you want to get people to invest in London, you want tourists to visit London – the ambassadorial element is really important.”
Scully admits that the 2016 Zac Goldsmith “ended up being negative and reactive”, but having stopped Labour from turning key London boroughs red in May he is confident that 2020 will be different, drawing on grassroots campaigns and “talking to people about what they want to talk about – not just what we want to push”.
The perfect candidate would be comfortable talking to everyone from business groups and chief executives to the various ethnic communities throughout the capital.
“They’ve got to understand London is a really diverse city,” he explains. “To speak to different communities, not just discretely but to bring them all together, so they are all one city and all feel proud to be part of the city.”