Tories to hold open primary vote for Mayor
The Conservative party’s candidate for mayor of London will be selected in an open election this September, City A.M. has learned.
London voters who have been registered as Tories for at least three months will be able to participate in an online ballot, while non-Tory voters will also be able to take part if they are already registered to vote in London and pre-register for the online primary.
Voting will take place, and a winner will be announced, in September, while an official shortlist is expected to be finalised later this summer.
The online ballot will be done under an alternative voting system, and individual candidates will be allowed to spend up to £100,000 on their primary campaigns.
Ivan Massow, who said he was running for mayor last month, told City A.M. that he was “delighted” about the announcement.
“I’ve spent the last almost year working towards a mayoral bid knowing the only way I could win it is with this primary,” Massow said, adding, “This blows the competition wide open.”
“Had it been just Conservative members it would have been very difficult for me to have beaten Zac [Goldsmith], who’s very popular in west London, where most Conservative members live,” Massow said.
Goldsmith, the MP for Richmond Park, is considered the front-runner for the Tory nod, in a field that also includes London MEP Syed Kamall, deputy mayor Stephen Greenhalgh and former English footballer Sol Campbell.
Kamall told City A.M. yesterday that he also supported the open primary, saying: “Given the stakes at this election, it is only right that all Londoners can make their voice heard in the process.”