First Tory ‘big hitter’ to throw hat in to be mayor
THE race to be the Conservative mayoral candidate ramped up today as Government frontbencher Paul Scully threw his hat into the ring.
Mr Scully, the minister for London, is the first MP to declare a wish to challenge Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is seeking a record third term next May. He is the seventh person to publicly seek the Tory nomination but arguably the first political “big hitter”. He claimed he had the support of a “significant” number of MPs and councillors.
He dismissed suggestions he was not well enough known to defeat Mr Khan, whose victories in 2016 and 2021 came with record majorities. He said: “This isn’t a celebrity election. Celebrity status doesn’t get houses built, doesn’t get transport moving, doesn’t make people safe. That is what I’m focusing on. I have delivered in four different departments in Government. I am about action, about changing the malaise we have from a Mayor who is deflecting, not delivering.”
Mr Scully, 55, has been MP for Sutton and Cheam since 2015. He is also the tech minister. In an article on the Evening Standard website, he said his time as minister for London felt like a “three-year apprenticeship” to become mayor. In a personal attack on Mr Khan, he described him as a “self-serving incumbent” who was crushing aspirations underfoot and who was using the mayoralty as a “platform to virtue signal”.
He said outer London residents were “frustrated” with Mr Khan’s upcoming expansion of the Ulez to the Greater London boundary, and vowed to scrap it on “day one”. Instead, he would seek to improve air quality on the Tube and complete the electrification of the capital’s 9,000-vehicle bus fleet. He said: “For some, the Ulez expansion is the first thing they have seen him do. They clearly don’t like what they are seeing.”
He said the Met Police and London Fire Brigade had to be brought out of special measures and more family homes were needed to avoid people “being priced out of London”. He railed against what he called the “high-rise jungle” threat from new housing. Previously Mr Scully said he would only stand if he felt he was the “best placed person” to take on Mr Khan. Other candidates include London Assembly members Susan Hall, Andrew Boff and Nick Rogers, and former Downing Street aides Daniel Korski and Samuel Kasumu. Duwayne Brooks, who was with Stephen Lawrence when he was attacked, has also said he will run.
Mr Scully said: “I am best-placed because I’ve had three years as minister for London, I’ve had 25 years campaigning round every single borough. I understand inner London, having got hospitality and retail open again after Covid. But I understand outer London, being an outer London MP.”
He denied he was only standing as he faced losing his constituency, where he holds a 8,351 majority, to the Lib Dems at the next election. He said: “I have always treated my constituency as marginal, in the same way as I’ll treat the mayoral elections. They are winnable.”
A Labour source said: “Londoners know exactly what the Tories are about — a cost-of-living crisis, soaring housing costs, huge cuts to public services, and opposing measures to clean up our dirty air. Despite this, Sadiq is getting on with building a better London for everyone.”
Tory nominations close on May 24. A winner is set to be announced on July 19.