There is one topic the four Tory candidates for London mayor can agree on: Boris. Throughout the first public hustings at the Institute of Directors last night, Andrew Boff, Zac Goldsmith, Syed Kamall and Stephen Greenhalgh all tried to outdo each other by singing praises of the outgoing mayor.
Greenhalgh, Boris’s deputy for policing and crime, said he was the ‘greatest mayor of greatest city on earth’, while Goldsmith said ‘London has been incredibly well served over the last 8 years by Boris Johnson, we’ve been lucky to have him as mayor’. The candidates walked a careful line between insisting they were the right candidate to build on his legacy, while carefully suggesting what they would do differently — housing in particular is an area where the four candidates want to see more progress.
The most newsworthy moment was on Heathrow. Goldsmith, who is the easily bookies’ favourite to win, is one of the most vocal opponents — he said it would be a ‘catastrophic error to go ahead with Heathrow expansion’ — has threatened all manner of scary things if the government pushes ahead. Zac has clarified his position: if a third runway at Heathrow goes ahead, he will cause a by-election in Richmond:
‘I made a pledge in 2008 to my constituents that if the Conservative party in government gave a green light to expansion I would trigger a by-election. I did that shortly after David Cameron came to Richmond and spoke to a room very much like this one and said “no if, no buts, there will be no Heathrow expansion”. People loved what they heard but he’s a politician, like us, they didn’t believe David Cameron. I did and gave them the reassurance of knowing they’d be able to vote again should that promise be broken.’
‘It’s a promise I would absolutely obliged to honour, it’s not something I want to do but I’d be obliged to do to it because it’s a promise I made. I would not resign from the Conservative party. I would not resign from the mayoral contest — if there was a question mark over that I wouldn’t be here today.’
Each of the candidate’s roles in the contest are already well defined. Boff is the eccentric and excitable policy wonk, who can cite endless papers the GLA Conservatives have produced on every issue known to mankind. Greenhalgh is the experienced City Hall operator, who knows how London works but is not an inspiring candidate. Kamall is generally impressive, citing his experience in Brussels to show he can get things done — a solid alternative to the frontrunner.
Goldsmith on the other hand is quietly effective. He may not have Greenhalgh, Boff and Kamall’s experience but he’s publicly better known than all of Greenhalgh — something Conservatives are acutely aware of. He pointed out that his tenure as an MP proves he is principled and happy to be a ‘pain in the government’s backside’. On stage, Zac was a languid figure, carefully contemplating what others had to say before slapping them down with a lethal remark. It’s easy to picture him as the Tory candidate, but does he have enough pizzazz for Londoners after the excitement of Boris?
Attempting to stand on the shoulders of blonde bombshell may be a necessity at this early stage in the contest, but each of the candidates will eventually have to stand on their own platform. They all have policies, ideas and enthusiasm but escaping Boris’ shadow is going to be the greatest challenge for whoever is chosen as the Tory candidate.
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