The search for the Conservative Mayoral candidate has been a tortuous affair. First came the postponement of the primary process and then the whole Greg Dyke affair. Both events undermined the many good candidates in the race. Monday sees nominations close. It is an enormous shame that Nick Boles won't be one of the nominees. Illness has forced him out of the race and I renew my best wishes to him for a full and speedy recovery. I hope the policy ideas that he was working on will find their way into the hands of our candidates. In Policy Exchange he built an impressive new centre right think tank - Britain's third largest - and I'm sure he had plenty of policy ideas for benefiting Londoners.
A number of the candidates already in the race have offered important contributions. Victoria Borwick's recent campaign video offered the kind of manifesto ConservativeHome could support. She emphasised lower taxation and a tough approach to crime. Lee Rotherham has promised a waste tsar and London's taxpayers certainly deserve better value for money. Andrew Boff has advocated recall-the-mayor powers for London's voters. Warwick Lightfoot has his own thought-through vision.
My hope is that both Boris Johnson and Steve Norris decide to throw their hats into the ring. I have doubts about both candidates. I don't know if Boris will ever get past the comic routine. I have no idea what ideas he has for London but he is a heavy-hitter who would command attention. We all think we know Steve Norris. We'd like him to devote more time to the campaign than four years ago but we know that he has charisma and standing again would show real commitment to London. Critics will say he's been defeated twice and we need someone new. I think there are big advantages in having a candidate who understands London and its issues.
Boris versus Norris would be a contest that would fascinate the media and that's the key reason why I hope that both men will run. We'd get oodles of publicity during the contest - in The Metro, in the Evening Standard, on London radio and television programmes. The coverage of the good-natured Davis-Cameron contest in 2005 lifted the party substantially in the polls. The same could happen in London if we combine the open primary idea with these two heavyweight candidates.
I am not endorsing these two men. It's too early to do that and I have reservations about both and hopes for both. There may also be a chance that a previously unknown individual may yet step forward. My hope that Norris and Boris will both stand is based on my belief that they will make for a grown-up contest. Not only will the party get a publicity dividend we will also properly test every candidate. The competition will force every candidate to raise their game. Norris will be able to rest Boris' seriousness. Boris will be able to force Norris to drop any business interests that would undermine a third campaign. Both Norris and Boris would show whether the already declared candidates are the minnows that they are often presented as or that they are the match of the candidates currently thought to be the heavyweights.
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