Alex Challoner wants to be the one to challenge Sir Sadiq Khan
A third Conservative candidate has thrown his hat in the ring to become the party’s London Mayoral candidate in 2028.
Alex Challoner, a businessman who also tried for the nomination at the last election, has vowed to “unleash” London through a bold campaign focusing on cracking down on fare dodgers.
Under his proposals, uniformed British Transport Police officers will be stationed on ticket gate lines at Tube stations as a visible deterrent, with plain clothes officers operating alongside them across the network.
Any fare dodgers caught will be stopped, arrested and prosecuted.
In addition, TfL staff will be trained to challenge fare dodgers and back up officers on the gates instead of staying put and noting the incident.
Fare dodging is estimated to cost TfL around £190 million per year.
It is the first pillar of what he says will be the party’s “boldest” ever City Hall campaign.
On housing, Mr Challoner has pledged to rip up the current London Plan, which runs to hundreds of pages, with a short 30 page document. His team say it will keep “only the rules London truly needs while tearing up those that stop developers building the homes Londoners want to see built.”
The prospective candidate also promised to slash VAT on gym memberships to tackle men’s mental health issues, as well as removing VAT entirely for London’s independent brewers through a Mayoral rebate.
Mr Challoner said: “London should be the greatest city on earth. Instead, after ten years of Sadiq Khan, it has been allowed to shrink.
“People who pay their fare on the Tube watch others barge through the barriers. People who work hard cannot find a home. And the places where Londoners go to stay healthy, see their mates and enjoy this city are being squeezed from every direction.
“I am not standing to manage that decline. I am standing to end it. Police on the gates. A London Plan you can read in an afternoon. Tax cuts for the gyms and breweries that keep this city alive. I will unleash London.
“This is a choice between winning London and losing for a fourth consecutive time.
“We will not win by doing what we’ve always done and saying what we’ve always said.
“Conservatives are at our best when we are at our boldest and I intend to prove that by beating Sadiq Khan in 2028.”
Mr Challoner will be up against former Home Secretary James Cleverly and Westminster City Councillor Festus Akinbusoye.
Any further candidates have until September 30 to submit their interest, after which a selection panel will whittle the choices down to a final two.
After a series of hustings, party members will then vote for their chosen candidate. It is believed that this will happen before the end of the year.
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