Susan Hall selected as Conservative mayoral candidate
Susan Hall has been selected as the Conservative London mayoral candidate.
Hall, a former City Hall Tory group leader, will take on incumbent mayor Sadiq Khan, who is pursuing a record third term, in the election next year.
She secured 57 per cent of the vote, beating rival candidate Moz Hossain, on 43 per cent, and pledged to stop the ULEZ expansion across Greater London on day one, if she is elected mayor.
‘Huge honour’
The former Harrow council leader and hair salon owner said: “It is a huge honour to be the Conservative candidate for mayor of London and I am so grateful to everyone for their support.
“I would also like to pay tribute to Moz for his positive and hard fought campaign.
“Over the coming months, I will work tirelessly to defeat Sadiq Khan and offer Londoners the change we need.”
‘Out of touch?’
A London Labour spokesperson said: “The Conservative candidate for mayor is a hard-right politician who couldn’t be more out of touch with our city and its values.
“She’s an outspoken supporter of Trump, Boris Johnson and a hard Brexit. She cheered Liz Truss’s mini-budget, which sent mortgages and rents soaring. She doesn’t stand up for women. And she hates London’s diversity.
“Londoners deserve better than a candidate who represents the worst of the Tory failure and incompetence over the last 13 years.”
‘He doesn’t like women’
Hall, a strong supporter of Boris Johnson, spoke to CityA.M. earlier this week, launching a personal attack on Khan and claiming: “He doesn’t like women.” A source close to the mayor denied the allegation.
She has also come out in favour of the Rwanda migration plan and backed home secretary Suella Braverman’s use of the word “invasion” to describe immigration.
It is the first time one of the two major political parties have selected a woman to run for London mayor.
Sunak’s ‘full support’
At a briefing with journalists, the prime minister’s press secretary distanced Rishi Sunak from Hall’s views on the mini-budget, which she said represented “deep joy” for the country; on Boris Johnson, who she said was an “awesome prime minister”; on small boats being an “invasion”; and did not comment on her remarks about former US president Donald Trump.
“She’s shown great commitment to bettering London and highlighting the many failures of Sadiq Khan including his desire to charge people up to £12.50 a day just to visit their GP,” the press secretary said.
“[Hall] has the full support of the prime minister.”
Asked whether Sunak had recently met Hall, she said: “Not that I’m aware of.” And the press secretary was unable to confirm whether the PM had ever met the Conservative’s London mayoral candidate but said: “I believe he has.”