The 2024 London Mayoral Elections are only three months away, so here’s our guide to the candidates for the May 2nd election:
Sadiq Khan (Labour)
Formerly MP for Tooting from 2005-2016, Khan first attained office in 2016 when he succeeded Boris Johnson.
He’ll be hoping to make history this year by becoming the first politician to serve as the capital’s mayor for three terms.
Khan won his second term in the delayed 2021 London Mayoral Election with 40% of first preference votes, consequently winning 55% of votes in a run-off against his Conservative counterpart Shaun Bailey, now Baron Bailey of Paddington.
Key policies introduced by Khan as Mayor include expanding rough-sleeping services, the Hopper fare, the Night Tube, and the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), with the Elizabeth Line also having been delivered during his tenure.
He has also pledged to £15m in funding for domestic abuse groups.
Khan has also served as a Minister of State for Transport under the government of Gordon Brown and before entering politics, worked as a human rights lawyer.
Susan Hall (Conservative)
Serving as the Conservative candidate, Hall will seek to overturn Labour’s recent mayoral dominance and become not only the first Conservative candidate to be elected mayor since Boris Johnson in 2012 but also the first woman to be Mayor of London.
She has been a member of the London Assembly since 2017 and a councillor for Harrow London Borough Council since 2006.
If elected, Hall is pledging to scrap the ULEZ Outer London expansion proposed by Khan while also promising to invest £200 million into the Metropolitan Police.
Hall has previously been criticised for claiming to have had her wallet stolen while riding the Tube, only for it to be returned to her by a Good Samaritan, belongings intact.
Challenged by Nick Ferrari on LBC, the Conservative candidate reiterated her version of events.
She said: ”I’m claiming I lost my wallet. I had assumed I had been pickpocketed.
“For all I know, I still was.
“I genuinely do not know.”
Zoë Garbett (Green Party)
Garbett has been a councillor for Dalston ward on Hackney London Borough Council since 2022, and was also a mayoral candidate for Hackney in the same year, finishing as runner-up with 17.0% of the vote.
She has received the endorsements of the Green Party’s only MP Caroline Lucas, as well as London Assembly member and 2021 Green Party candidate Sian Berry, in her bid to become the capital’s first Green mayor.
Garbett has pledged to address London’s housing market by introducing a Rent Commission to set a target level for rents across the city as well as a two-year rent freeze.
She has also promised to pause and review the use of facial recognition by the Metropolitan Police, as well as increase the number of public toilets available on public transport.
Rob Blackie (Liberal Democrats)
Liberal Democrat candidate Blackie has criticised the Metropolitan Police for supposedly over-focusing on low-level offences and has pledged to shift the police’s priorities toward tackling violent and sexual offences.
He has also pledged to deliver cleaner rivers, more solar panels and better transport links for outer London.
Blackie currently works in digital marketing, and is also an anti-Brexit campaigner.
Howard Cox (Reform UK)
A prominent anti-ULEZ campaigner and founder of fossil fuel campaign group FairFuelUk, Cox is running as the candidate for Reform UK, previously known as the Brexit Party.
Upon election, Cox is promising to remove ULEZ, phase out low traffic neighbourhoods and reduce 20mph speed limits, as well as increase the number of police officers on the beat.
Shyam Batra (Independent)
A finance broker, Batra announced his candidacy as an independent in January 2024.
He has outlined his desire to abolish ULEZ, congestion zone, and 20mph speed limits but according to LBC, is barred from being a company director and believes aliens ‘have been here for a long time‘.
Natalie Campbell (Independent)
Formerly long-listed for the Conservative candidacy, the CEO and university chancellor is running as an independent.
She had previously voiced opposition to the expansion of the ULEZ, but stated that if elected, she would only reverse the scheme if it were cost-effective.
Campbell has also pledged to introduce an extension to the Bakerloo line.
Serge Crowbolder (Independent)
Islington resident and deliveryman Serge Crowbolder has stated that he would lobby the government to reduce rents, found an e-democracy platform and supply solar panels and heat pumps to every home.
He has also expressed interest in commissioning a feasibility study into the building of a dam between Essex and Kent.
Amy Gallagher (Social Democratic Party)
The candidate for the Social Democratic Party, Gallagher has pledged free transport for under-25s and to ”push back on woke ideology”.
She is currently a nurse and has pursued legal action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust over alleged discrimination.
George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain)
Currently the bookmakers’ favourite to become MP for Rochdale in the upcoming Rochdale by-election following the death of incumbent and Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd, Galloway announced his candidacy for London mayor in December 2023.
He previously contested the 2016 London Mayoral Election and finished having seventh with 37,007 first preference votes (1.4%).
Galloway is the leader of the Workers Party of Britain, and has previously served as Labour MP for the now abolished Glasgow Kelvin constituency from 1987-2005, formerly Glasgow Hillshead, as well as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and Bradford West under the banner of the Respect Party.
Tarun Ghulati (Independent)
An independent candidate currently working as an investment banker, Gulati declared his candidacy in November 2023.
His proposed policies include scrapping ULEZ, removing the congestion charge for weekends and holidays, and abolishing 20mph speed limit zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
Ghulati has also pledged to focus on affordable housing and re-opening police stations in areas with high crime rates.
Rayhan Haque (Independent)
Formerly a member of the Labour Party until 2019, Haque has stated that he would increase support for cyclists and explore car-free days similar to those used in Paris.
He has also outlined his intention to create an academy to teach Londoners about artificial intelligence in a bid to ”surpass what San Francisco is doing”.
Andreas Michli (Independent)
Currently the owner of a gym, Michli is promising to abolish ULEZ, low-traffic neighbourhoods, the congestion charge, and the target for net zero emissions, if elected.
He has also outlined his intent for police officers to be trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu up to blue belt, as well as receiving legal training comparable to solicitors.
Michli has also promised to provide London residents with free gym memberships if elected, and has previously said that he had been ”radicalised by lockdown”.
Count Binface has also expressed interest in standing but at time of writing is currently some way short of the £10,000 deposit needed to run.
The 2024 London Mayoral Elections will be the first to be conducted using the first-past-the-post system and will be running simultaneously alongside the elections for the London Assembly.
To vote in the next Mayor of London and London Assembly elections, you must be registered to vote, live in London, be at least 18 years old on the day of the elections and either be a British citizen, a European citizen or a Commonwealth citizen who has or does not require leave to remain in the UK.
You must also be able to show photo ID, and more information on this can be found here.
Cover photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash
