Tony Devenish is the London Assembly member for London West Central.
After eight years as the London Assembly Member (AM) for Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and the City of Westminster (the West Central London Assembly constituency) on Thursday 2nd May I am up for election for the third time. This after first being elected in May 2016, a month before Brexit (Sadiq Khan v Zac Goldsmith) and re-elected in 2021 during Covid (Sadiq Khan v Shaun Bailey). This time it’s Sadiq Khan v Susan Hall.
Early March – Tube Rolling Stock failing & tube noise, still a problem after eight years of pressing for action
Just before election purdah, I held meetings with London Underground on the worsening situation of rolling stock breaking down, following reports from whistle-blowers. Sadiq (in my view) is paying off his union allies with bumper pay rises (£30m+ of our money), rather than investing in rolling stock. This will come back to bite Londoners and the next Mayor. Despite me sponsoring cross-Party, unanimously supported Assembly motions in both my terms on the Assembly, Sadiq and Transport for London (which he chairs) have failed to innovate enough to resolve the problem of excessive Tube noise. This is a public health crisis, making people’s lives in their homes a misery. I’ve seen mothers of babies and senior citizens break down crying in meetings with Sadiq’s Deputy Mayors and staff. Little real action has followed. It’s frustrating that a recent opinion poll, which criticised Sadiq on crime, thought he’d done a reasonable job on transport. Those asked clearly hadn’t looked into rolling stock or Tube noise, or have driven in London.
Mid-March – Greg Hands MP, Minister for London, and I launch a plan for Hammersmith Bridge.
After 5 years of foot-dragging by Labour Hammersmith & Fulham Council, which owns Hammersmith Bridge (coincidently making the local councillor’s ward a lot quieter from traffic – he just happens to be the Leader of the Council), it remains closed to buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and cars. The Council seems content that it has re-opened the bridge to pedestrians and cyclists. Greg and I launch a plan to remove the bridge from the Council’s control and give it to London’s strategic road authority, Transport for London (TfL). TfL is chaired by the Mayor of London, the person who I’ve been elected to “hold to account”. Currently that is Khan, who has done little to expedite matters since the bridge closed, but Londoners can soon vote to replace him with his Conservative challenger Susan Hall. All the money spent to repair the bridge so far has come from the Government. This farce has featured in the world’s press, including the front page of the New York Times, allowing that “Brit-bashing” newspaper to claim we can’t run anything in the 2020s (judging by Khan’s running of London, it’s hard to pretend they don’t have a point, although New York infrastructure is far from perfect).
Late March – Susan Hall’s Campaign Launch – Listening to Londoners, Uxbridge 10am Sunday
You know you are politically committed (or, as the joke goes, you should be committed) when over one hundred Tories turn up to a car park in Uxbridge on a cold Sunday morning in March. Thanks to our Secretary of State Claire Courtinho MP and local MP Steve Tuckwell for welcoming us, before Susan delivered a speech to our team. When Sadiq had his campaign launch in Camden (no surprise he didn’t choose to venture into outer London) where, despite it being held on a week day, only seven London Labour MPs bothered to show. Looking at Labour Assembly candidates’ literature, little or none of it features Sadiq. This is a noticeable difference from 2016. Sadiq is, at best, air brushed out , never mentioned since the Uxbridge By-Election Labour defeat last year. This is the only parliamentary by-election that we Conservatives have won in the recent past. Labour’s losing Uxbridge Candidate remains a Camden Councillor. I bet he didn’t send Sadiq a Christmas card!
Late March – London Jewish Forum with Susan Hall – A Mayor who’d listen
Attended a breakfast meeting with Susan being quizzed by community leaders and 6th formers. Some great questions and answers. Susan’s “Mastermind specialist subject” is definitely Blue Light Services, both police and fire. She’s visited every fire station over the years, from her days as Harrow Council’s Leader and plenty of police stations as Chairman of the Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee. Her commitment to the Jewish community is well known, both before and since the October 7th terrorist pogrom. She was absolutely right to praise the CST who, with the Met Police, protect the community. Susan highlighted why every community building in London needs to be protected by a level of security few – if any other communities in our City – need. The evil reality of antisemitism. Some light hearted banter too with a Jewish taxi driver who, like Susan, says it as it is…
Late March – Crime out of control – return Henry the Stag
I opened London’s Evening Standard to be met with a picture of a statue of a stag called Henry, who weighed a ton but was still stolen from the front garden of Belgravia friends’ (note to The Standard, Belgravia not Knightsbridge) home. Londoners, whatever their politics, know crime is out of control in our City: from knife crime deaths, criminal gangs clearing entire supermarkets, to car thefts, burglaries and cyber crime. Most worrying is the fear of crime of many women and girls (and their relatives), especially post the murder of Sarah Everard by a then serving Police Officer. Susan’s plan to appoint a Women’s Commissioner has gone down well. The blatant theft of a heavy statue simply shows that Khan, who serves as London’s Police & Crime Commissioner, doesn’t comprehend the seriousness of the crisis on our streets.
His defensive answers show he’s out of his depth. Sadiq spends literally all his time demanding more public money, despite a huge £21 Billion annual budget, while failing to recruit 2,000 police officers with the money the Government gave him to do so. My last Mayoral Question of mine and Sadiq’s eight years was about the visible, blatant drug dealing on a social housing block a few yards from a West End Tube station. All Sadiq could say was I should contact the Met Police’s Borough Commander.
Easter, then a dash to the finish line
I know that once Easter is over the last month flashes by. Both parties are predicting a historic low voter turnout , with the apathy Party the likely winner. I don’t want to predict the result, though I am emboldened by the fact that, while every doorstep conversation – whether in social housing or a millionaire’s mansion – starts with the person making it clear they are very unhappy with all politicians, most end a little better with the person telling me either that they actively dislike Khan or that they recognise both Ken and Boris were much better Mayors than the man I call “Mr Slippery”.
Thank you to every Conservative activist who is determined to wipe that smirk of Khan’s face on Thursday 2nd May. Good luck Susan and thank you to your team.
The post Tony Devenish: With a month to go – here’s how my campaigning in London is going so far appeared first on Conservative Home.
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Author: Tony Devenish
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