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London mayoral election: God knows I have my reservations, but this is why I'll vote for Sadiq Khan
It’s tough living in London these days. Knife crime is completely out of control, rents have skyrocketed, shoplifting has somehow been normalised, council tax is higher than ever and confidence in the Met is at a record low.
As we come to the end of Sadiq Khan’s second term as Mayor of London, it’s hard not to feel that a lot of things have got a lot worse.
As the mother of a young son, I find the knife crime epidemic particularly alarming, and it’s far from clear what the strategy is to end it. Ask most people and they’ll say it’s the thing they most worry about, and many families I know are forming a stampede away from the capital in part because of it. As the police and crime commissioner with the power to set the direction of the Met, I would have liked to see a lot more leadership from Khan about this. We know he’s virulently anti-stop-and-search, but what exactly is his plan? Up to this week, he has seemed allergic to talking about it.
Meanwhile, in the past three years, he has spent £4.5 million on posters with messages like “carry a water bottle when it’s hot” and his widely mocked “maaate” campaign. Not to mention the £6.3 million he spent on completely pointlessly re-naming the Overground lines — an incredible waste of money when you think how many people are struggling with their bills. I find his manifesto claims that he will eliminate homelessness by 2030 and make the Thames clean enough to swim in frankly disingenuous.
I also don’t like the rampant antisemitism allowed to rage at these marches and feel for my Jewish friends who say central London on Saturdays is now a no-go zone for Jews. I hear them when they say no other form of racism would be tolerated even for a split-second.
Who else could I vote for? It’s a two-horse race, with Susan Hall the only viable alternative
So who else could I vote for on Thursday? I’m not convinced by the Green candidate Zoe Garbett’s fiscal capabilities and, despite by being impressed by the Lib-Dem candidate Rob Blackie and independent Natalie Campbell, unfortunately their campaigns just haven’t cut through.
So it’s a two-horse race, with Susan Hall the only viable alternative.
It is extraordinary to me that the Conservative government is in such disarray that they allowed a candidate so ill-prepared and unpolished to run for London mayor under their banner. The fact they didn’t even vet her X/Twitter history (which was rife with tweets endorsing Enoch Powell, Trump election fake news and Islamophobic slurs against Sadiq) before allowing her to run is particularly jaw-dropping. Don’t they care about what London thinks of them at all?
Hall’s mayoral campaign has been gaffe-prone and at times painful to watch, like that excruciating moment on LBC when she didn’t know the price of a bus fare or when she claimed she had been pick-pocketed on the Tube when she had simply lost her wallet (which was later handed in). Her campaign is run on anti-Ulez sentiment, promising to scrap the charges on day one and eliminate 20 mph zones and LTNs.
Does anyone really want to reverse all the hard work and expense to make London’s air cleaner? Although I might agree with Hall that funding free school meals through business rates, paid for by businesses desperately struggling after the pandemic and closing at an alarming rate, isn’t exactly fair, to be so devoid of political antennae that you would initially campaign on removing meals from children is staggering. I’m sure she is an effective councillor, but I’m afraid as a mayoral candidate she isn’t remotely convincing. I would really worry for us if she were to represent us on a global stage. Sorry Susan, but you’re just not up to it.
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Which brings me back to Khan. He’s extremely personable. He turns up to endless appointments and events and represents London efficiently and with charm. His media operation is slick and he is clearly a kind and empathetic man. I am pro-Ulez, and genuinely impressed by his dogged determination to make London’s air cleaner despite incredible opposition, even from Sir Keir Starmer. I’m more comfortable knowing my children are crossing roads with cars going 20 mph, and for that I must also thank Khan. We also can’t hold him responsible for everything wrong with London.
He steered us through the pandemic and the recession — from strikes to money running out — calmly and with courage. He has spoken movingly in the past about needing 24-hour police protection thanks to the racist abuse he has received and I’m sure a job like being Mayor has meant many personal sacrifices. I’m comfortable that he can handle the pressures of an incredibly important, high-profile job effectively. That’s why on Thursday May 2 I’ll vote for Sadiq Khan.
Anna van Praagh is the Evening Standard’s chief content officer