Reform announces Laila Cunningham will run for London Mayor
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has announced that Westminster City councillor Laila Cunningham will stand as its candidate to be the Mayor of London in 2028.
In a press conference on Wednesday morning, Farage said Cunningham would also lead Reform’s local campaigns in London ahead of crucial council elections in May.
During her speech, she criticised Sadiq Khan’s time in office, adding that the local elections in three months’ time would reflect Londoners’ dissatisfaction with the Mayor.
“It is Londoners’ chance to vote out every councillor who has propped him up and stayed silent while he has let our city down,” Cunningham said.
“Unlike Labour or the Tories, we won’t defend a status quo that does not work for votes.”
Focusing her attacks on Khan despite his position being up for grabs at upcoming local elections, she criticised crime trends in London as she said the city had become one where gangsters could “operate freely”.
“There will be a new sheriff in town and I will be launching an all-out war on crime.”
Reform’s Cunningham to stand for London Mayor
Farage praised Cunningham as a “passionate” and “articulate” member of the party who would be the “face of our campaign” in the capital city.
He also called out the Tories’ decision to put up Shaun Bailey and Susan Hall as candidates to stand against Khan in the previous two mayoral elections.
Reform will face an uphill battle in winning over London, which has leant towards Labour in recent years.
Farage’s party has also trailed the Conservatives in recent polling for London despite leading in national surveys.
Recent CityAM/Freshwater Strategy polling showed Reform on 13 per cent of the voter share while the Conservatives were on 28 per cent and Labour headed the pack on 34 per cent.
Cunningham said the next mayoral election would be “Khan v Cunningham”. Khan has not yet said whether he would stand in the next election in two years, though CityAM/Freshwater Strategy polling last month showed three in five voters do not think he should run again.