Cleverly avoids culture war issues in pitch to be next London mayor

Senior Tory says Khan has ‘lost passion for the job’ and Burnham is ‘very anti-London’ in interview with LBC James Cleverly has vowed to run a “classically Conservative” campaign to become the mayor of London, insisting his victory in the capital would be a stepping stone for Kemi Badenoch to become prime minister. The senior Tory denied he had resigned from the shadow cabinet to run for mayor after a shift to the right under Badenoch’s leadership. She drew criticism for claiming there was a “problem with crime” in the black community and was forced to apologise for liking a tweet in 2020 that had a picture of Enoch Powell captioned: “It’s never too late to get London back.” Hall lost to Labour’s Sadiq Khan in 2024, who won with 43.8% of the vote. Cleverly, who lost his attempt to lead the Conservatives to Badenoch, is considered a more moderate voice in a party that has moved to the right as support for Nigel Farage’s rightwing Reform UK has grown.

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