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Sadiq Khan’s decision to see off his Conservative rival to secure a third term as London mayor was greeted with little surprise by Tory insiders.
Susan Hall, the party’s surprise choice to challenge Labor for one of the country’s biggest political positions, has struggled to make an impact during the campaign, often featuring Trumpist rhetoric. Her campaign style was said to be doomed to failure, mainly among young people. She is a liberal electorate.
For a long time between the closing of votes on Thursday night and the announcement of the election results on Saturday afternoon, there were rumors that she had a narrow lead over Mr Khan and even had a chance of winning, but that turned out to be an illusion, and that her It received only 33 votes. Her vote share was 11 points behind the incumbent. She failed to make much progress in the Tory-supporting London suburbs and suffered setbacks in the centre.
A member of Boris Johnson’s town hall team said: “The really bad news is she could have won.” I. “She’s never run anything, let alone a city the size of London.”
Even before the defeat, which was a hat-trick for the Conservatives in the capital, party insiders questioned why the party would once again field such a weak candidate in such a key role. It was bothering me.
Since Boris Johnson left City Hall in 2016, Sadiq Khan has seen off Tory MP and environmental activist Zac Goldsmith, London MP Sean Bailey and, most recently, Hall. However, insiders say they secured their candidacies by chance.
Some Tories argue that Lord Goldsmith was a good candidate, but the fact that he led a vicious campaign that led his own sister to publicly say she didn’t recognize him suggests that he was not the best person for the job.
Insiders say the recently promoted Lord Bailey looks good on paper and despite a weak campaign he lost the mayoral race by only about 100,000 votes, leading to a victory in one of the world’s largest cities. He said some people had suggested that the job to run it could go to the Conservative Party.
But after a hard-fought election campaign led by Mr Hall, party insiders are once again questioning why the Conservative Party is having trouble finding a viable candidate to challenge Mr Khan. .
“It’s very frustrating,” said an ally of Mr. Johnson. “If the party had acted in a united manner, there could have been a scenario in which the Conservatives cornered Labor in London and put pressure on Labor with other outcomes.” [Sir Keir] Mr Starmer may have changed the way people think about the general election.
“Instead, one of the most successful political forces in history completely went off the rails, took its eye off the ball, and allowed Susan Hall to become its candidate.”
Responsibility for selecting Mr Hall’s candidate lies with veteran Tory “fixer” Dougie Smith, with other potential candidates expected to make Daniel Kolsky the party’s number 10 preferred candidate. It is alleged that he blocked the candidates. But the Conservative candidacy emerged into Hall’s lap after Mr Kolski was accused of molesting TV producer Daisy Goodwin in 2013 and was forced to withdraw from the race. .
Another Conservative MP who was closely involved in the Conservative mayoral campaign said: I Hall was allowed to run because too many in the party refuse to accept the demographic changes taking place in the country, particularly in London.
“The problem is that the Conservative Party doesn’t want to accept or acknowledge the changes this country is going through,” the source said. “The median age in London is 35, but around 35 per cent of people living in London are not British-born. If we don’t get London, in 10 to 15 years the rest of the country The chances of getting that part are very slim. This is an existential threat facing the party.”
With the Conservatives expected to be defeated in the upcoming general election, more qualified candidates may emerge once the Conservatives become opposition parties, and the prospect of running the capital could appeal to former ministers. This suggests that there is a possibility.
One Conservative Party member said that incumbent politicians were most likely to come forward, saying: “The Conservative brand is so toxic right now that museum directors and big business CEOs want to be associated with the Conservative brand. It’s very unlikely,” he added.
Conservative pollster Lord Hayward agreed that the Conservatives were likely to win in London if they were in opposition, and that the prospect of London being currently unwinnable was a deterrent to better candidates. He suggested that it has become.
“I don’t think London is that much of a win for the Conservatives,” he said. “In fact, there has been a campaign against them for about five years now. When the Conservatives are in power, the London mayoral race tends to be out of reach for them. This is a major challenge.
He added: “It could be a more attractive option if Labor were in power and the Conservatives were in opposition. Even then, a very large-scale candidate like Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone could You have to become a person.”
Lord Hayward suggested that the Conservatives were unlikely to win in London, meaning that politicians from lesser-known local authorities were coming forward to boost their profile.
The Conservative MP also warned that recent phenomena were leading to a decline in the quality of politicians who advocate for themselves, saying: I think fewer and fewer people are willing to put themselves and their families through this situation. This will have serious implications for our democracy. ”