Nigel Farage confirms Reform candidate for next London Mayoral elections
Laila Cunningham is also set to be the party's figurehead in May's local elections
Reform UK’s Laila Cunningham will be the party’s candidate for London mayor when the capital next goes to the polls in 2028, Nigel Farage has announced.
The Reform UK leader also said Ms Cunningham will be the figurehead for the party’s campaign ahead of May’s elections, which he described as the “single most significant” electoral test ahead of the next general election.
Ms Cunningham, a Westminster City councillor, signalled she would focus on a crackdown on crime as Reform’s London mayoral candidate.
She and Mr Farage appeared together at a press conference on Wednesday morning in the capital, surrounded by banners which read “London needs Reform”.
She took aim at Labour Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan’s record on crime, and said she had a “different message” for Londoners.
“There will be a new sheriff in town, and I’ll be launching an all-out war on crime,” Ms Cunningham said.
She added: “I will set clear, high-level priorities for the Met to focus on tackling knife crime, drugs, robbery, shoplifting, rape.”
She also said she would task the police with “targeting, hunting and prosecuting rape gangs in London”.
Asked how she would reduce crime, the Westminster councillor said she would rewrite the London police and crime plan and give “new marching orders” to the Metropolitan Police to “tackle crime that matters”.
Ms Cunningham said policing problems in the Met were about priorities rather than recruitment.
The Reform mayoral candidate said she would scrap Ulez, the ultra-low emission zone, if she won power in London.
Ulez requires drivers to pay a daily charge based on how polluting the emissions from their vehicle are.
“I’d scrap Ulez, because I don’t think a war on motorists helps anyone,” Ms Cunningham said.
She was less certain about whether she would get rid of the congestion charge, telling a press conference “you will have to wait and find out”.
Pressed about a claim she wanted to restore London to its “glory days” and when she thought those glory days were, Ms Cunningham referred to “when I was growing up”.
She added: “When I was growing up, I wasn’t scared to walk down the streets. I knew my local bobby. In fact, when I was growing up, my local teacher lived next to me. Now she can’t afford it. My local bobby lived next to me, now he can’t afford it.”
Asked if she wanted to see the Conservatives stand aside for Reform to improve their chances at the next London mayoral election, she did not appear to consider them a threat to her party’s chances of winning.
“They can do whatever they want,” Ms Cunningham said.