Sir James Cleverly has said mayoral candidates cannot “credibly” stand for election to run London while “obviously” hating the city, in remarks which will be interpreted as a swipe at Reform UK.
The former home secretary, who this week announced he is stepping down as shadow housing secretary to bid for the Conservative nomination for London mayor, made the comments when asked about claims from Reform’s mayoral candidate, Laila Cunningham, that the capital is unsafe.
Cunningham said this week that her children are “petrified” to visit Shepherd’s Bush following a stabbing, and has frequently characterised London as gripped by crime, telling The i Paper last year that there are “no safe parts” in the capital.
Asked directly about her comments, Cleverly told The i Paper: “I’m not here to talk about her. Let her talk about her and let her justify her statements.”
He argued responsibility for crime in the capital lay with the current mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, adding that London’s performance on crime had been “an outlier” compared with the rest of the UK during his time as home secretary.
