On the day I met Susan Hall for lunch, a new poll had put the Conservative candidate just three percentage points behind Sadiq Khan in the race to be the next mayor of London. She did not seem surprised. “There was a previous one that had us one point behind.” That poll also suggested that, should Jeremy Corbyn run as an independent and split the left vote in May 2024 – when the election will for the first time be held under first past the post – Hall would comfortably beat the incumbent Khan, who is seeking a historic third term. “To be honest with you, knocking on doors for the past year, I knew it was within reach, because Khan’s making so many mistakes.”
It is an unexpected set of circumstances that has made Hall a genuine contender for the London mayoralty. The 68-year-old former hairdresser from north London was by no means the favourite to become the Tory nominee. First Paul Scully, the minister for London, who was widely assumed to be the frontrunner, failed to make the shortlist. Then one of the remaining three candidates, the former David Cameron aide Daniel Korski, was forced to drop out after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct (which he denies). Hall, who has 17 years’ experience as a London councillor in Harrow and then as a member of the London Assembly, had only an unknown criminal barrister with no record in politics (Moz Hossain) left to beat.
Content from our partners
