Laila Cunningham has warned Sir James Cleverly could become “another Sadiq Khan” after the former Home Secretary announced his bid to become the capital’s next mayor.
Speaking to GB News, Reform UK’s London mayoral candidate gave her snap reaction to the news that Sir James was quitting Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet to put his case to the capital.
Announcing his candidacy, Sir James said that London had “huge opportunities, extraordinary reserves of talent and almost limitless potential”.
“Of course London has problems that need fixing. But it also has huge opportunities, extraordinary reserves of talent and almost limitless potential.”
The former Shadow Housing Secretary also took a swipe at other political opponents, almost certainly Reform’s own bid to take the capital.
“Other parties simply amplify every criticism of the capital, talking it down without offering a credible plan or any real desire to make things better,” he wrote in The Times.
Reacting moments after the news broke, Mrs Cunningham hit back at the suggestion that her criticism of London amounted to “talking it down”.
“Interestingly, he says I’m talking it down because if you don’t admit there’s a problem, then you don’t fix it,” she said.
Laila Cunningham has provided her snap reaction to James Cleverly seeking to run for London mayor
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Mrs Cunningham compared her new rival’s stance to that of current Mayor Sadiq Khan.
“Is he going to be another Sadiq Khan that just ignores what’s going on on our streets and just says it’s the safest it’s ever been?”
The Reform candidate suggested the contest could ultimately see two established political figures competing against her if Sir Sadiq seeks another term.
“If Khan runs, it will be two career politicians running against an outsider who is not one,” she said.
The Tory MP accused other candidates of ‘talking it down the capital without offering a credible plan’
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While welcoming Sir James to the contest, she pointed to polling showing the Tories trailing Reform in the capital.
“He keeps saying that he can beat Labour. According to the latest poll, he’ll have to try and beat me first.
“I’m not really worried about James because Londoners have had a government that James was in for the past 14 years.
“I just don’t think Londoners are going to look to a former Home Secretary, a former Cabinet member, a former person who ran for leader of the Conservative Party as the answer for London right now.
It is not yet known if Sadiq Khan will seek to run for a fourth term of office
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“I don’t think they want the same,” she said.
On the accusation that Mrs Cunningham lacked a plan, she said: “I know exactly what needs to be done. I’ve got a credible plan.”
“I was born and raised here. My kids, you know, I’m raising six children here. They’ve all been victims of crime. You know, I’ve been a victim of crime.
“It’s my home. Of course I have a desire to fix it. Why wouldn’t I, even if I wasn’t running for mayor?”