Festus Akinbusoye, Britain's first black police and crime commissioner, has announced he will challenge Sir James Cleverly to be the Tory candidate for London mayor. Akinbusoye, a Westminster councillor and former Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner, said he would put his name forward to become the party's candidate for the 2028 election.
His entry sets up a contest with Sir James, the former home and foreign secretary, who quit the shadow cabinet at the weekend to launch his own bid for the mayoralty.
Policing and public safety at the forefront
Akinbusoye is expected to make policing and public safety central to his campaign, warning that the Metropolitan Police is facing a "crisis" as officers leave the force. He said he would seek to tackle the exodus and present himself as a stronger advocate for rank-and-file officers at City Hall.
Akinbusoye also criticised Sir Sadiq Khan's relationship with the Met, claiming officers increasingly viewed the Labour mayor as being "against the police". He pledged to "champion" the force if elected mayor and argued that restoring confidence among officers would be essential to improving policing in the capital.
Sir James announced on Saturday he was stepping down from the Tory front bench, where he held the shadow housing, communities and local government brief since last July, to run for City Hall in the next election.
A fresh face in the race
Labour incumbent Sir Sadiq Khan is halfway through his third term and has not confirmed whether he will stand again in May 2028. The Tories have fallen short to Sir Sadiq in each of the last three elections since Boris Johnson stood down as Mayor of London. Neither Zac Goldsmith, nor Shaun Bailey or Susan Hall were able to overhaul the current incumbent, who won comfortably on every occasion.
But Akinbusoye says his campaign will be different. Unlike any of the previous Conservative candidates, the former Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has no experience in Westminster or City Hall. Should he win, he will be a fairly unknown entity to voters – but with the Conservative Party only now stabilising politically after years of turmoil culminated in a disastrous General Election in 2024, a clean slate may be what's needed to convince voters.
"My proposition to London is this," Akinbusoye tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). "I'm a fresh face. I've not been part of a government in the past, but I come with solid private sector experience, having set up a small business with the help of the Prince's Trust."
Housing and affordability central to campaign
The capital's housing crisis will be front and centre of Akinbusoye's bid to win the election, should he get the Tory nod. "This is not about ambition or ego; it's personal," he added. "I was one of those people who was literally priced out of London when I came here as an immigrant from Nigeria and set up my own business. I had to move 70 miles away from London to Milton Keynes."
"Moving back now and serving as a councillor here, it is 20 times worse for young people. I want to build a pathway for young people to be able to own their own homes in London and stay, rather than getting priced out of the city." He says the London Plan – the city's spatial strategy which local authorities are meant to follow – has caused an exodus rather than stimulating housebuilding.
Akinbusoye has also been vastly critical of the Mayor of London and Transport for London's record on fare evasion, which is estimated to cost the network around £200million every year. By rolling out more enforcement, he says, fares can be kept "affordable" for Londoners.
With a multi-party battle looming in 2028, several high-profile candidates, including former Cabinet Minister James Cleverly, are rumoured to be putting their names forward for selection amid suggestions that Sir Sadiq may not stand in their way in a bid for a fourth term. A Conservative Party spokesperson said: "We will be selecting a candidate in due course."
