The 2021 candidate has outlined a plan for his party to retake the mayoralty reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
The Conservative Party must choose a mayoral contender who can speak to “all of London” and refuse to write off parts of the capital in 2028, a former candidate has said.
Lord Bailey won the votes of almost 900,000 Londoners in 2021, but ultimately fell short against Sir Sadiq Khan.
His experience was marred by a lack of support from the party in what was seen as a winnable race against the current Mayor of London.
Five years on, the veteran Tory has laid out how his party could return to its former glory days in the capital at the next election.
“We could do it in 2028, because the Tories have always been in rebuilding mode in London,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
“We’re always rebuilding.”
‘No No-go Zones’
In a bruising election campaign, Lord Bailey said he was proud of the way his team approached community outreach.
“I went and spoke to people about what they considered their challenges,” he added.
“They wanted to be heard, and they said particular things, and I think that’s something that the Tories absolutely have to get involved in.
“You have to go everywhere. No place should be a no-go area for a Tory. We have to go everywhere. You want someone who’s gonna represent all of London. You need to speak to all of London, not just some of London.”
When it comes to mayoral elections, Conservative Party have traditionally targeted voters in wealthier inner boroughs and outer London, where the Tories have tended to do well.
Lord Bailey won more votes than Sir Sadiq in Bexley and Bromley, Croydon and Sutton, Brent and Harrow, Ealing and Hillingdon, Havering and Redbridge, the South West and West Central.
But the Labour mayor won outright as he tallied up votes in areas like the North East and Haringey and Enfield.
As London returns to a supplementary voting system in 2028 after a brief departure two years ago, being able to convince voters across the city to put a Tory down as at least their second choice on the ballot paper could prove decisive.
‘Learn London’
He said the next Tory candidate, as well as being ambitious in their offering to Londoners, must also show they understand the capital – just like the New York-born former Conservative mayor.
“I don’t mean you have to be from London – Boris [Johnson] wasn’t,” he said.
“But you have to understand how Londoners carry multiculturalism as opposed to how political parties carry multiculturalism.
“You have to understand that certain communities have their issues that they are going to deal with, and you wading in inflames things, you ignoring them inflames things. You’ve got to be involved in those conversations, but sometimes listen, not lead. And that’s a very difficult nuance.
“I was born and raised in London, I sat on the assembly, that’s great. I have the technical knowledge.
“But Boris wasn’t from London and he learned it all.”
Who is the ideal candidate?
The Conservatives have not yet selected their candidate or even laid out a timetable for doing so – a party spokesman says it will be in “due course” – but there are already thought to be several people ready to throw their hat in the ring.
One of these is former cabinet minister Sir James Cleverly, while a number of former MPs and serving councillors have also explored a run for the candidacy.
“If you get someone who’s ex-assembly, they have great detail,” Lord Bailey mused.
“If you get a London MP, that could be as good as it could be bad, because what you don’t want is a London MP who only understands their quarter of London.
“You want someone who’s gonna represent all of London, and ironically, if you’re from outside, that might be an easier story to tell.”
What a Tory would do differently
Had Lord Bailey won the top job in 2021, life would have been very different for Londoners, he says.
Praising Sir Sadiq’s work on improving air quality in London – while noting that “nobody has a monopoly on good ideas” – he says the main failing of the current mayor has been housing.
In office, Lord Bailey would have immediately lowered the affordable housing target for new developments to make housebuilding more financially viable, and set up a City Hall owned property developer called Housing for London (HfL).
“Sadiq Khan damaged London’s housing arena worse than it needed to be”, he added. “As bad as housing is in London, raising a family in London is virtually impossible because housing that family is hideously expensive. I would have assaulted that with every tool that City Hall has, and a few tools that the government has as well.”
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