A six-time Tory London mayoral hopeful is in the running to be a Conservative MP candidate in one of Britain’s most marginal constituencies.
Andrew Boff, chairman of the London Assembly, is up against two others to stand as the party’s candidate in Dagenham and Rainham at the next general election.
The seat was held by Labour’s Jon Cruddas with a majority of just 293 in the 2019 election, and Mr Cruddas has announced he will not be re-standing.
Mr Boff, who has unsuccessfully run to be the Tory candidate for London mayor in every election except 2012, is up against Sam Holland - a member of Bicester Town Council in Oxfordshire - and Samia Hersi, a campaigner for the party who works in public affairs.
“I’d actually been asked by members of the local association to stand,” Mr Boff told the Standard.
“I thought about it and I thought it made sense - and I tend to want to do what people have asked.
“I know the area. I live in Barking and Dagenham, and it seemed sensible. We’ve got to rescue the local residents from a Labour party that doesn’t listen to people.”
The western part of the constituency falls within the borough of Barking and Dagenham - which has a Labour-run council - while the eastern portion is in Havering, run by a coalition of the Havering Residents Association and Labour.
Asked whether he thought the seat was winnable, given Labour’s position roughly 20 points ahead in the national polls, Mr Boff said: “It’s not the general election at the moment, and we’ll be very much focusing on what matters to people - if I’m the candidate - to people who walk out their door and they see the world around them, and they want improvements.
“They want improvements in safety, in the environment, they want to stop being ignored by a council that doesn’t pay any attention to them and they ultimately want a change.
“I’m quite confident that if I’m selected as the candidate, we’ll win.”
Mr Boff said he expected to hear from the local Conservative association in early September whether he’s been selected.
He previously stood for Parliament in 1992, when he unsuccessfully attempted to hold Hornsey and Wood Green for the Conservatives. He served as the leader of Hillingdon Council from 1990 until 1992, and twice stood for the European Parliament.
He has sat on the London Assembly since 2008, having been elected as a London-wide member four times.
Labour is standing local councillor Margaret Mullane to replace Mr Cruddas.
Mr Boff’s colleague on the London Assembly, Emma Best, ran to be selected as an MP candidate earlier this summer in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, but party members opted instead for local council leader Lewis Cocking.
The Conservative candidacy for the seat, which borders Greater London, had become vacant after Tory MP Sir Charles Walker announced his intention last year to stand down at the next election.
