Sir James Cleverly has announced he will not stand again as an MP and has quit the shadow cabinet to run for Mayor of London, claiming Labour's Sir Sadiq Khan has "lost his passion" and is "faxing it in". The former Foreign Secretary, once a leading contender to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader, hopes to become the first Tory since Boris Johnson to be elected Mayor.
A gamble for London's future
The 57-year-old father of two made his decision during the summer, with the "tipping point" coming when his wife, Susie, told him: "I think this is really what you want to do, so we should do it." He fears London's reputation is on the slide to the detriment of Britain as a whole, and that international rivals want to "eat our lunch". He hopes a victory in May 2028 will help propel Kemi Badenoch into Downing Street in the general election, which must take place no later than August the next year.
Sir James, who was knighted last year, could have retired into the ranks of elder statesmen. Instead, if formally chosen as the Conservative candidate, he will battle Labour, Reform UK and the Greens. Sir Sadiq has won the last three elections with comfortable majorities, but Sir James insists he can see a path to victory. "I am all in," he says. "I am totally committed to winning the nomination, and then winning the election."
Safety and prosperity goals
He is clear how he will judge whether he is a successful mayor, with a top goal being ensuring women can walk in London at night without feeling in danger. "If young women feel safe in the public realm, everyone else will feel safe," he explains, later adding: "If we can get that right, and people feel liberated to enjoy the greatest city on earth, everyone's a winner."
He wants London to retain its reputation as one of the world's most exciting cities, recalling how his mother, who came from Sierra Leone to train as a nurse, saw the metropolis: "When my mum came to the UK in the mid-1960s, in her mind and the minds of loads of other people like her, London was the centre of the universe. It was the place to be." His mother became a midwife at Lewisham Hospital, where both Sir James and his sons, Freddy and Rupert, were born. The midwife who delivered his boys had been trained by his mum.
Threats and rivalries
His armed forces background and time as Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary give him special insight into the threats London could face, including drones and ballistic missiles. "I have seen the full range of threats, both physical and digital, that are directed towards London," he says. "Our enemies recognise something that sometimes our friends and colleagues don't, which is, if you can hurt London, you can hurt the UK… I am uniquely experienced to make sure that the things that I worry about are things that Londoners don't have to worry about."
He has no faith in Andy Burnham or Sir Sadiq to boost London's prosperity, calling Mr Burnham's "Manchesterism" "a thinly disguised criticism of London". He warns: "He's let that London envy morph and mutate into this weird belief that somehow London's success comes at the cost of other parts of the UK… London is not competing with Manchester; it's not competing with Birmingham; it's not competing with Leeds. London is competing with Paris and with New York, and with Mumbai and with Lagos. If London is not able to compete with those other global cities, the UK as a whole will suffer."
He is irritated by the clashes between the Mayor of London and President Trump. "You got two men who have got a vested political interest in rowing with each other," he says. "What Donald Trump does is up to him. What the London Mayor is doing is damaging London's reputation." He is frustrated that many Americans now believe London is crime-ridden and dangerous. Although he acknowledges the "corrosive" effects of shoplifting and antisocial behaviour, he insists the city is by an "order of magnitude safer than any of those other big cities in the United States of America". "The fact that the world doesn't currently believe that, I think in large part, is a failure of the Mayor of London," he says.
Path to victory
Sir James is adamant he is serious about winning the mayoralty, arguing it is as important as any of the jobs he has held in government. "I am only putting myself forward because I can see a path to winning this, and it is well worth the effort," he says. "Because if we can get London firing on all cylinders again, the positive impact that it will have on the UK as a whole is huge." He has warm words for Mrs Badenoch, saying: "We're friends as well as colleagues. We've always got on very, very well. I can absolutely see she is what the country needs at the moment." He expects he would spend the rest of his life kicking himself if he did not run for this job. "You have to love the city," he says. "And that doesn't mean being blind to what needs fixing… It is amazing, and it could be more amazing still."
