HALL LOST BY 275,000 VOTES DESPITE ‘SO NEAR’ CLAIM

SUSAN HALL, in a video posted on X, claimed that victory had “so nearly” been within her grasp.

In fact, she lost by 275,000 votes and secured fewer votes — and a smaller share — than Tory candidate Shaun Bailey did in 2021. But Greg Hands, the former Tory chairman, said the party was more popular nationally when Mr Bailey ran to be mayor — winning the Hartlepool by-election on the same day and being about 15 points ahead in opinion polls, not 20 points behind Labour now.

Across London, Ms Hall increased the Tory vote in Bexley and Bromley by almost 11,000 votes, was almost 20,000 votes ahead of Sadiq Khan in Croydon and Sutton and outpolled him by 7,000 votes in Brent and Harrow.

Aides said she also polled well in Greenwich, Merton, Dagenham and Redbridge. “If you look at the local election results nationally, and at the other ‘metro mayors’, Susan’s vote held up very well,” one said. But Ms Hall’s

32.7 per cent share of the vote was the smallest achieved by a Tory mayoral candidate for 20 years.

Overall, there was a swing from Tory to Labour of 3.2 per cent. Mr Khan won by more than 90,000 votes in the north-east constituency that includes Hackney and Waltham Forest, and by 70,000 in City and East, which includes Tower Hamlets.