The three Tories shortlisted to become the party’s London mayoral candidate were in Downing Street on Monday morning as activists expressed surprise at the decision to omit Minister for London Paul Scully from the run-off.
London Assembly member Susan Hall, former Downing Street aide turned tech entrepreneur Daniel Korski and barrister Mozammel Hossain were selected on Sunday night by party officials to battle it out to secure the right to challenge Labour mayor Sadiq Khan in next May’s City Hall elections.
It was unclear whether the candidates would be meeting Rishi Sunak. Party officials were expected to set out the ground rules for the forthcoming campaign, as the Tories seek to prevent Mr Khan from securing a record third term of office.
But the biggest surprise was the decision not to shortlist Mr Scully, a Government minister and MP for Sutton and Cheam.
One source said members were “embarrassed” at the party’s decision to ditch Mr Scully, who had been regarded as the frontrunner. Shortlisted candidates today told the Standard they were also surprised.
Mr Khan said Mr Scully’s exclusion showed the Tory party was “running scared” of its record in office.
He told the Standard: “You’ve got a Conservative party who have stopped the Minister for London from standing to be the Conservative mayoral candidate, because they’re clearly running scared of standing on the Conservative record.
“I’m going to be standing on my record in May and I’ll be pointing out the Conservative record over the last 14 years.”
Mr Korski, who is thought to have topped the selection process, said: “I was looking forward to making my case next to him. But it was for the party to decide who has the support to go forward.
“As Minister for London, Paul started with an advantage in being very well known and able to attend a range of events with key voters. I don’t feel that anything was tilted in favour of anyone, except there were some naturally extended advantages for someone who had been Minister for London for a while.”
Ms Hall said: “I honestly have no idea what happened. Quite separately from this, I really like Paul. I’m sad in one way because he is such a good chap. On a personal level I do feel for him.”
Andrew Boff, the veteran assembly member, also failed to be shortlisted. Asked whether he was surprised at the Scully decision, he said: “I think everybody was.”
Mr Boff said: “There are times, and I have seen this before in the party, when there is a drive for renewal and a drive to try something different. I think we have hit one of these moments where the mood of the party is that something different is required.”
The first hustings will be held on Friday, with more to follow. More than 20,000 London Tories are entitled to vote, with a winner due to be announced on July 19.
Mr Korski on Monday promised his campaign would range beyond the traditional remit of City Hall debates as he proposed a minimum digital literacy standard, requiring pupils to take ICT (information and communication technology) at GSCE and helping adults to become computer-literate.
“I don’t just want it to be focused on the traditional issues but also tomorrow’s issues,” Mr Korski told the Standard.
“I think I’m offering a fresh perspective. I have come from outside of politics and I’m talking about a different kind of politics and trying to run a campaign with new ideas and more creativity than what we have done before.
“I think Londoners are tired of the same old politics and same old politicians. They want an uplifting, aspirational, inspirational message. I’m not interested in the Punch and Judy old school politics.”
Ms Hall vowed to focus on tackling crime and “stopping the Ulez expansion on day one”. She said all pledges would be fully costed and deliverable, and she would not be promising “bells and whistles” in a bid to generate headlines. “If I promise to do something I will bloody well do it,” she said.
Some observers believe Ms Hall, a longstanding Tory politician and former council leader, may have the largest amount of support and greatest visibility among London party members.
She said: “I’m a Tory. I have many of the same beliefs and thoughts that they have. I genuinely think I am the only one who can realistically beat Sadiq Khan. I take him on every month [at Mayor’s Question Time] and give him a hard time. I’m more than capable of being a mayor. Hopefully that will be enough to persuade the members to put their trust in me.”
She said she had given up drinking for the duration of the race, and would be shunning her favourite tipples – whisky, and gin and tonic. “I’m superstitious,” she said. “I’m not going to have any alcohol until this whole mayoral thing is finished.
“I don’t think I have ever been so popular in my whole life. I’m hugely excited and very, very grateful to be on the shortlist.”
She called on the party to unite under Mr Sunak, in the wake of Boris Johnson’s decision to quit as an MP ahead of a report into whether he misled the Commons over Partygate.
Ms Hall said: “Boris is a character – he is Marmite. People either love him or they don’t. I have not seen the [privileges committee] report but if it meant there would be a by-election anyway, we are in no worse a position than we would have been.
“As a party we need to pull together now and show the electorate we are serious. Rishi Sunak is doing a damn good job. I hear from insiders he is working morning, noon and night.”
Mr Korski said: “I think Boris was a tremendous Mayor of London. He left an important legacy. I wish to bring the kind of dynamism and energy that Boris brought when he first started. I have always got on well with Boris. He is a political colossus. When he was in London he served London well.”
Mr Hossain, a criminal barrister who was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2019, was born in Bangladesh and came to the UK in 1995. He appears not to have commented on his shortlisting and did not respond to an Evening Standard request for comment.
Mr Boff, who was making his sixth bid to secure the party’s mayoral nomination, said: “It doesn’t appear that persistence is rewarded. They probably wanted some new blood and a new image. I wish all three candidates well. That is democracy.”
