London Mayoral hopefuls hit the campaign trail

A ConservativeHome reader has submitted this hustings report. If you attend a London Mayoral candidates event and would like to write a report please email us.

In the last week the campaign trail for the Conservative Mayoral primaries has spanned the length of London, with candidates converging on Romford and Bromley.

The Romford hustings drew a wide audience with eight candidates making the journey to East London.

Victoria Borwick, Richard Barnes, Warwick Lightfoot, Andrew Boff, Lurline Champagnie, Dr Lee Rotherham, Simon Fawthrop and Winston Mckenzie all spoke about their vision for London.

The candidates discussed issues ranging from street crime to the rising cost of the Livingstone administration. Winston Mckenzie, a former boxer, talked about instilling a sense of community into London’s youth in an attempt to lure them away from crime.

On a more hands-off note, Dr Rotherham argued for an "abolitionist" Mayor and Simon Fawthrop called for Londoners to return to their local communities.

Whilst Lurline Champagnie attacked the "scourge" of multiculturalism, Richard Barnes cited his standing amongst the Sikh community as one of his key campaigning strengths.

Warwick Lightfoot talked about his vision for London’s business community, while Andrew Boff discussed the use of "binding electoral petitions" in London government, an idea reminiscent of Athenian democracy (and something he first floated on ConservativeHome).

Finally, Victoria Borwick advocated a campaign of tough "New York-style policing" – with police officers responsible for crime levels on named streets - and a complete re-evaluation of City Hall spending. Mrs Borwick has highlighted the Cost of Ken in a paper for the Centre for Policy Studies - £300 for the average London family.

On a different note, Bromley invited a smaller selection of candidates, and offered them the chance to discuss their vision in greater detail.

Nick Boles, the former head of Policy Exchange, centered on the fiasco surrounding the Greg Dyke nomination. He branded the party’s consideration of the former Labour donor as "crass and unnecessary."  He argued that the Conservative leadership should be more self-confident and referred to gains throughout London by Tory councillors over recent years because of the party's reputation for providing value for money local services.

Simon Fawthrop, Bromley’s arch-localist, called for radical reform of London’s government. He stated his aim that all decision-making powers be returned to local boroughs, a key step in his "Communities First" plan. Cllr Fawthrop then ventured the idea that working from home could be a strategy used to beat problems such as congestion and crime.

At the other end of the spectrum, Warwick Lightfoot laid out his achievements as a central government advisor. He emphasized the need to maintain London’s economic hegemony whilst acknowledging the need to improve the lot of the poorest Londoners, tackling the root of wider social problems.

Victoria Borwick, attacked Livingstone’s record on crime and policing. Mrs Borwick revealed a 79% increase in violent crime in Bromley over Livingstone’s administration and vowed to "make muggers go in fear of the law". In addition to this shake-up of London’s policing, Mrs Borwick pledged to end the wanton spending spree at city hall and resuscitate the transport network.

Lee Rotherham was another Bromley speaker. After explaining the reasons and route for dumping the GLA, he pledged as Mayor that he would be waiting "at the bottom of Downing Street" to buttonhole Prime Minister Cameron after the General Election. He also provided a number of examples of what London issues needed action at a national level, and what could be achieved by entrusting the Boroughs themselves. 

Comments

[AnotherLondoner]

I hope Fawthrop did better than that slow-motion-car-crash of an interview on Doughty Street.

[Londoner]

"has spanned the length of London"

Hm, Romford to Bromley - strange idea of spanning London. I should think that if there are no notable new entrants, Nick Boles and Warwick Lightfoot are likely to emerge as the front runners. Interesting that Boles declined to go to Romford - hope he didn't think it would be too rough for him!

[ugh]

No candidates. No chance.

[surreyresident]

Just a brief email to record that we had a number of London members join our efforts in one of the target seats in the wilds of Surrey. Victoria Borwick demonstrated an impressive willingness to knock on doors, for an entire Saturday morning, canvassing in a hostile area she was unfamilaiar with.

[Sarah]

As the organiser of one of the events, I was very pleased with the support that Havering Conservative Future was given by the nominees, by many members from the Hornchurch & Upminster Association who attended and the people from Walthamstow and Ealing who made the journey over to us.

Londoner, with regards to Nick Boles "declining", Nick was all set up to attend but was unfortunately involved in an accident that day and due to the unforseen circumstances was unable to attend. Thankfully, I believe no major injuries!

I would like to send my thanks to all the Nominees who got in touch to support our event and to everyone who attended and took the time out to travel to Zone 6 and visit us in Havering.

Havering Conservative Future will be hosting another event once the short list is announced by CCHQ and look forward to seeing you there.

[Cllr Nicholas Bennett]

It was a Beckenham Conservative Association supper club and not a 'Bromley hustings' as only a selection of candidates were invited.

[Editor]

Thank you for the clarification Nicholas.

[Westener]

I agree with surreyresident. I have canvassed with Victoria Borwick. She is always hard working and very effective.

[Carl Cameron]

"I agree with surreyresident. I have canvassed with Victoria Borwick. She is always hard working and very effective."

Obviously qualified to be Mayor, then.

What a load of rubbish. Why on earth was she in SURREY rather than LONDON anyway?

[Londoner]

Probably because Surrey has local elections this year and London doesn't, Carl. Anyone active in the party in London would know that members here are asked to go and help surrounding areas. Whilst I would like Victoria to answer on the Kensington & Chelsea Councillors allowances scandal - they have gone from claiming virtually nothing 20 years ago to being one of the top claimers in the country (see item on 30 April), it is not fair to criticise her for heeding the call for mutual aid.

[Carl Cameron]

Londoner:

Perhaps the point I failed to get across was, er, doin' a bit of canvassing isn't really anything to do with being either a good candidate for Mayor, or a good Mayor.