Mayor of London race 2028: Conservatives seek party's nomination

"We need to treat London seriously" - the words of a leading Conservative MP as his party considers its next candidate to be mayor of the capital.

The party has just closed applications for the role and there are four runners who have openly declared.

In 26 years, the Tories have only had one mayor in the capital, Boris Johnson, who won two elections and served from 2008 to 2016.

The party has lost three elections since then to Sadiq Khan, now Lord Khan of Tooting.

Gareth Bacon MP, shadow minister for London, told a meeting at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham this week that his party had treated the mayoralty like a "paper candidacy" in the past two elections - meaning that they hadn't taken it seriously enough.

Bacon said that the party had "cut Susan Hall adrift", a reference to their candidate in the last mayoral election in 2024, when Lord Khan won that historic third term as mayor.

Bacon went on to describe Lord Khan as "toxic and divisive".

The election for mayor of London will be held in May 2028.

That is more than 18 months away, but the race is well under way.

Reform UK selected their candidate, Leila Cunningham, in January.

Sarah Olney, MP for Richmond Park, and Rob Blackie, who ran in 2024, are both candidates for the Lib Dem nomination.

This time round, with speculation about whether the current mayor will stand for a fourth term, the Conservatives sniff a chance.

On the back of local elections in May 2026 when the party won back traditional strongholds like Westminster and Wandsworth from Labour, they feel the mood may be changing.

However, winning the mayoralty may be too big a task. Much of it will depend on who they choose as their candidate.

As the putative front runner, Braintree MP and former home secretary and foreign secretary James Cleverly has been working the conference circuit very hard.

Once a London Assembly member, and former head of the London Fire Authority, he is seen by many Tories as the 'shoe-in' candidate.

But he will come with baggage - he is a Brexiteer and when he was head of London's Fire Authority oversaw a big cuts programme.

He told me: "I hope to be a real champion for London, not just an administrator. I would make sure people are safe on the street and can really make a life for themselves and their families and can afford to live in London."

Cleverly said party political affiliations "are less important than someone with a real plan to make London a city we can be proud of again".

He added: "I hope to get the candidacy and then be a real champion for London, not just an administrator but a real champion and it's the city I love and that's why I want to put myself forward."

Festus Akinbusoye is a relative newcomer to London politics, though not to the city.

He emigrated from Nigeria with his parents and sister at age 13 in 1991 and lived in Canning Town in east London.

Akinbusoye was the Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner from 2021 to 2024 and was elected to Westminster City Council in May.

He told me: "We do not have to accept that this is the best we can get.

"I believe that we don't have to accept that just because we're a global city, London has got to be so unaffordable to build a life in.

"I want to be the most pro-policing, pro-house building, pro-business, pro-family, pro-growth mayor London has ever had.

"We can make that happen because London works when Londoners work".

Andrew Boff is the current chair of the London Assembly.

Privately, Conservatives joke that it wouldn't be a mayoral selection without him in it. He's been an assembly member since 2008.

They also know he thinks very deeply about the capital's issues, particularly housing.

He told me: "I've got a very ambitious programme of not telling people how much I love London - because I'm hoping all the candidates love London - but specifically what I'm going to do.

"One of the things we've got to do is help the family housing crisis, so I will make sure we get more money for building those important family-sized homes.

"We need more encouragement for young people to do self-building in housing, so I'll be making land available for young people to build their own homes without having to pay for the cost of the land."

Boff added: "I'll get rid of the outward extension of the Ulez."

Public affairs professional Alex Challoner told me he came to London from the West Country when he was 21 and has called the city his home for 35 years.

He said: "I think as a party, we have a choice between winning and losing for a fourth consecutive time.

"If we're serious about winning we have to have some of the boldest policies that will appeal to Londoners.

"I'm proposing a crackdown on fair dodgers at the Tube barriers by introducing British Transport Police, as well as training up Transport for London staff to stop people breaking through the barriers."

He told me his plan, called Fare Watch, would use a "simple reporting tool in the TfL Go app and online" where passengers will be able to report persistent fare dodging.

Challoner also pledged to introduce "a London Plan that you can read in an afternoon" as well as VAT cut "for gyms and London breweries".

The hopefuls in the race to be the Conservative mayoral candidate will have to wait until November to find out if they've made the final shortlist.

It is believed that London party members will then be offered a choice of two candidates.

I'm told the final two are likely to be announced on 20 November.

The original proposed date had been Friday the 13th, until it was pointed out that that may not be the most auspicious date to unveil candidates.

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