Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for London mayor, has liked tweets praising Enoch Powell, as well as some containing Islamophobic abuse towards Sadiq Khan, her Labour opponent, research by a campaign group has shown.
In February 2020, Hall liked a message on Twitter, now formally known as X, praising Powell, a former Conservative minister who became a byword for racism in UK politics after his notorious 1968 speech, which warned that immigration would lead to “rivers of blood”.
The tweet, uncovered by Hope Not Hate, depicted Powell with the words: “It’s never too late to get London back,” an apparent reference to the city’s multiculturalism.
Later in August, Hall liked a reply to a tweet asking which politician should be the honorary final member of a pack of UK prime minister-themed playing cards, which suggested it should be Powell.
Hall, a London assembly member, was the surprise choice by the Conservatives to take on Khan in next year’s mayoral election, in part due to her low profile, but also because of her hard-right views and her strong support for Donald Trump and Liz Truss.
Last month she was criticised for saying the “dangerous” Notting Hill carnival should be moved and claiming there was a “problem with crime” in the black community.
In another tweet unearthed by Hope Not Hate, Hall seemingly endorsed Trump’s baseless conspiracy theory that he lost the 2020 US presidential election because of voter fraud.
Sent on 5 November 2020, as votes were being counted, Hall quote-reposted a link to the far-right conspiracy theory website Gateway Pundit, making claims about mass fraud to favour Joe Biden. “If this is correct no wonder Trump is calling it out!” Hall said.
Hall, who has deleted all her tweets sent before December 2017, has also seemingly endorsed Islamophobic abuse of Khan.
In January 2019, she retweeted a message from the far-right activist Kate Hopkins that called Khan “the nipple height mayor of Londonistan”, adding, “Thank you Katie!”, Hope Not Hate said.
Londonistan is a common term of Islamophobic abuse used by people, often on the far right, to claim London has been taken over by Muslims.
The year before, Hall had liked a tweet that replied to a message about a mayoral project on ending domestic violence and female genital mutilation by saying: “that Labour traitor RAT likes that kind of thing”, another apparently abusive reference to Khan’s Muslim faith.
Hope Not Hate said Hall’s visible Twitter history “shows that she is not fit to represent London” and called for her to be suspended by the Conservatives.
A spokesperson for Hall’s campaign said: “Susan engages with many people on Twitter without endorsing their views. Londoners want a mayor who listens to people and deals with the bread-and-butter issues that matter to them – making our streets safer and putting more money back in people’s pockets. As mayor, Susan will deliver that.”
