Boris critic claims he has grassroots backing in bid to be new Tory mayor

THE race to be the Tory candidate to take on Sadiq Khan for the keys to City Hall stepped up today as a longstanding critic of Boris Johnson claimed to have the biggest backing of grassroots activists.

Andrew Boff said he had secured the support of 50 councillors across 15 boroughs as he formally entered the contest to secure his party’s nomination. Recently reappointed as chairman of the London Assembly, the cross-party body that scrutinises the mayor, Mr Boff is a City Hall veteran who has served as an assembly member since 2008.

He broke ranks to call for Mr Johnson to consider resigning as prime minister over the partygate scandal months before he was eventually forced to quit Downing Street.

Supporters said Mr Boff’s backing from Tory councillors puts him ahead in the race to become the party’s may

• A TORY mayoral hopeful has said he was priced out of the capital when looking to buy a house. Samuel Kasumu, 35, said he shares Londoners’ frustrations with high housing costs as he and his wife were forced to move to the Home Counties from Barnet. Mr Kasumu said: “We couldn’t afford to live in London. We ended up in Essex, in a place called Laindon.” He added that only now is he in a position to move back to the capital.

oral candidate. Others to have declared include fellow assembly members Susan Hall and Nick Rogers and Hertfordshire councillor Samuel Kasumu.

Mr Boff sits on the left of the party. He was the first person in London to enter a same-sex civil partnership in 2005.

He vowed to scrap the forthcoming Ulez expansion to the Greater London boundary, to boost local policing and build more family homes. He came second behind Shaun Bailey in the Tory selection process for its 2021 mayoral candidate.

He said: “I will beat Sadiq Khan. He’s lost Londoners’ trust and failed to deliver on his promises. Too many Londoners feel unsafe on our streets and struggle to rent, let alone buy a home, in our city.

“As mayor, I will take responsibility and focus tirelessly on driving down crime and building the quality homes London needs.

“I strongly believe the Conservative Party can win big again in London. We have diligent Members of Parliament and assembly members, hard-working councillors, and passionate party members, and we share Londoners’ aspirational, entrepreneurial and global spirit.”

Applications close on May 24. A winner will be unveiled on July 19. The next mayoral elections are on May 2, 2024.