Sir James Cleverly has emerged as the early frontrunner to be the Tory candidate to take on Sir Sadiq Khan to be Mayor of London, the Standard can reveal.
In an exclusive interview, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told how the contest to choose the party’s mayoral contender for the 2028 election had already started.
She also laid out three key criteria for the type of candidate that she is seeking for City Hall which are expertise and a track record on business, public order and life experience.
Sir James appears to tick all three boxes given he has served as Home Secretary, co-founded his own company and served in the army.
He is also a former London Assembly member.
Mrs Badenoch gave details of the Tory mayoral candidate selection process when asked about how to tackle London’s housing crisis, with exorbitant rents, often for homes in poor condition.
“Sadiq Khan is the housing crisis,” she argued, speaking to The Standard on a visit to Bexley, east London, where the Tories retained control of the council despite Nigel Farage’s Reform UK seeking to seize control of it.
“The biggest thing we can do is get rid of Sadiq Khan.
“So I'm recruiting now for candidates for mayor to take him on because we get a better mayor, we will get more housing.”
Pressed whether Sir James was one of the contenders, she added: “So we are the Conservative Party. We believe in competition.
“James Cleverly has signalled an interest. I welcome that, but it's going to be open, fair competition. I want the very best candidates to put their names forward.
“I want us to have really bright people who get business, who get public order, who have life experience, not just spent their lives as campaigners like Sadiq Khan did. That's what London needs right now.”
Sir James, who also served as Foreign Secretary and Education Secretary, would be the most heavyweight candidate put forward by the Tories for the London mayoral post.
Now the party’s shadow housing secretary, Sir James is considering throwing his hat into the ring to be the Tory mayoral challenger.
“Of course I think about it,” he told The House magazine recently.
“The more you get involved with local government-related stuff, the more you get involved with housing, the more Labour’s failures at a national level and in London are right in my face.”
He may be even more tempted to launch a London mayoral bid after Reform won control of Essex County Council at the May 7 local elections, which highlighted the potential threat to him keeping him Braintree seat at the next general election.
On his mayoral candidature CV, Mr Cleverly could put having been an officer in the Territorial Army for around two decades, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
His roles have included being part of Central Volunteers HQ Royal Artillery, working as a Staff Officer in 1st (UK) Armoured Division, and until 2005 he was the Officer Commanding 266 (Parachute) Battery Royal Artillery (Volunteers).
In his early career, he worked in magazines and digital publishing, before co-founding a web publishing company called Point and Fire Media.
The Conservatives were hit by internal criticism over the selection of London Assembly member Susan Hall as their candidate for the 2024 mayoral contest, rather than London minister Paul Scully, who was MP for Sutton and Cheam.
Sir Sadiq won a third term and some MPs believe Mr Scully would have put up a stronger challenge.
Recently, Sir Sadiq gave his strongest signal yet that he may seek a fourth term in City Hall.
But there has also been speculation that Sir Keir Starmer may appoint him to the House of Lords as he seeks to shore up his crisis-hit Government.
Boris Johnson is the only Tory to serve as Mayor of London, with Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith beaten by Sir Sadiq in 2016, as was Shaun Bailey in 2021.
