Mayor of london

I’m proud of my mayoral campaign

In 18 months of campaigning to win the battle to be mayor of London – spoiler: I didn’t win – I met many thousands of people. One of the most frequent things said to me was, ‘You’re not like a Conservative’ or something similar.  Comments like these baffled me from the first to the last. If I’m not a Conservative, then who is? David Cameron used to say that it didn’t matter where you came from; it is where you are going. True. But values matter, too.  When I repeated case studies of Londoners struggling to pay the £12.50 Ulez charge, I was dubbed a ‘Flat Earther’.  Policies are built on

In defence of Sadiq Khan’s EU citizenship plan

Sadiq Khan has ventured to Brussels today to meet with European Union negotiators. London’s mayor has a plan to convince EU officials to offer Brits ‘associate citizenship’ after the Brexit implementation period ends this year. The citizenship would grant Brits continued access to freedom of movement and residency within the EU, along with a possible host of other rights linked to healthcare, welfare and voting in European Parliamentary elections. The bid, Khan says, is for ‘heartbroken’ Londoners and others. Of course, Khan is extremely unlikely to be successful. Although London’s mayor wants associate citizenship to be high up on the negotiating agenda when it comes the ‘future relationship’, it’s probably