The “mystery” Tory bidding to be the party’s London mayoral candidate has pledged to tackle gangs to make London safer - as he revealed his admiration for former leaders Margaret Thatcher and Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
Criminal barrister Mozammel Hossain KC has been dubbed “Mysterious Moz” after making it on to the party’s shotlist of three candidates without any advance publicity. He has no social media profile and has yet to set up a campaign website.
He is aiming to beat Dan Korski and Susan Hall to secure the party’s nomination to take on Labour mayor Sadiq Khan next May. The winner will be announced on July 19.
In his first broadcast interview, he told LBC’s Nick Ferrari on Wednesday: “London is unsafe today. London is too expensive today.
“The streets aren’t safe. The antisocial behaviour, the so-called low level crime, has been decriminalised effectively.
“You must know people who have had their car stolen… or phone snatched. They will tell you there is no point in calling the police any more. In London, the greatest city on the face of earth, is that right?”
Mr Hossain, who has been a criminal barrister for 20 years, refused to give a direct answer when asked if the Met police was institutionally racist.
He said it was a “tragedy” that the Met was in special measures. He said his number one priority was to “fix crime”.
He explained: “We all know the biggest problem is gang crime in London. Behind the snatching of phones is a gang. We know who these gangs are. We just have to dismantle these gangs.
“The day I become mayor of London, if I am lucky enough, I will get all the council leaders, all the senior police officers, and say: ‘Look, what can you do?’”
He said he would “cut the heads off the leaders” of gangs and rehabilitate younger gang members.
He backed more “intelligence based” stop and search. He said he had met mothers who “wished the police had stopped their son when he was carrying a knife”.
He struggled to explain what he meant in a newspaper interview when he accused Mr Khan of taking some votes for granted – which he reportedly dubbed a “vote bank”.
Mr Hossain told LBC: “There are certain votes he takes for granted. With my back story, my lived experience, I can reach out to all communities.”
He came to London aged 21, leaving a “wooden house with a mud floor and a sobbing mother” in Bangladesh. He is one of eight children.
He described the Ulez expansion as a “very cruel measure”. He said: “During the cost of living crisis, when people are suffering… lives are being destroyed. We cannot do this now. I will turn off the cameras on day one...This is the wrong time to do it. Wait, let things better.”
He first joined the Tory party in 2015. He didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 16.
Margaret Thatcher is his political hero. “She reminds me of my mother,” he said.
He confirmed that former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, was his “mentor” who was guiding his campaign.
He said: “I would not be here without him. To me, he is the most principled and honourable man I have met in politics. He has been my biggest champion. He cares about London deeply and that is why he is supporting me to be mayor of London. He thinks that I can win against Mr Khan.”
