The names of the 13 candidates who will appear on the ballot paper for the 2024 Mayor of London election have been released. They are, in alphabetical order by surname:
- Femy Amin (Animal Welfare Party)
- Count Binface (Count Binface for Mayor
- Rob Blackie (Liberal Demorcat)
- Natalie Campbell (Independent)
- Howard Cox (Reform UK)
- Amy Gallagher (Social Democratic Party)
- Zoë Garbett (Green Party)
- Tarun Ghulati (Independent)
- Susan Hall (Conservative)
- Sadiq Khan (Labour)
- Andreas Michli (Independent)
- Brian Rose (London Real Party)
- Nick Scanlon (Britain First)
Sadiq Khan is, of course, the incumbent and seeking a third term, having been first elected in 2016 then re-elected in the Covid-delayed contest of 2021. Opinion polls have found him to have a big lead over Conservative Susan Hall, with the Green’s Zoë Garbett and Lib Dem Rob Blackie contesting third place and Howard Cox of the radical right populist Reform UK in fifth.
Others to have lodged the necessary deposit and secured the nominations required include Independent Natalie Campbell, a social entrepreneur, broadcaster, co-chief executive of drinks company Belu and Chancellor of the University of Westminster, who last year was longlisted to be the Tory candidate. She has also been a member of London’s local enterprise partnership, a group of business leaders which worked with the Mayor and London Councils.
The Animal Welfare Party, represented by Femy Amin, combines its concern with animal rights with a wider environmental agenda. Amin came the UK aged 16 as a refugee from Afghanistan and qualified as a pharmacist.
Count Binface is the the satirical space warrior alter ego of comedian David Harvey. He finished ninth in the 2021 mayoral election, receiving 24,775 votes, representing one per cent of the total. His slogan is “Make Earth great again“.
Representing the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Amy Gallagher, a nurse, says her chief concerns are poor living conditions, unreliable public transport and lack of community in the capital. The SDP has a historic link with the party of that name formed in 1981.
Like Howard Cox, investment banker Tarun Ghulati says he would completely scrap the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. He would also stop the Congestion Charge working at weekends and review 20 mph speed limits and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). He has also pledged to increase police presence on streets and try to reduce loneliness and poverty.
His fellow Independent, Haringey gym owner Andreas Michli, says he’d offer free gym memberships to all Londoners and abolish LTNs, although he would lack powers to do so as almost all are controlled by borough councils. He’s told the Evening Standard he was “radicalised by lockdown”.
Brian Rose, a US-born former banker and alcohol and drug addict, ran for Mayor in 2021, finishing seventh with 31,111 votes (1.2 per cent). He has a website called London Real.
Britain First is a far-right group that registered as a political party in 2021. Its candidate is Nick Scanlon, who stood unsuccessfully for Greenwich Council in May 2022. The party’s leader, Paul Golding, ran in 2016 under the Britain First banner, finishing eighth with 31,372 votes (1.2 per cent).
Former actor turned right wing agitator Laurence Fox had hoped to be on the ballot, but his nomination forms were not filled in correctly.
Fox is, however, a London Assembly candidate in the Londonwide list section of the Assembly vote, whose outcomes are determined by a form of proportional representation. The full line-up of parties and individuals on this part of the ballot is:
- Animal Welfare Party
- Britain First
- Christian Peoples Alliance
- Communist Party of Britain
- Conservatives
- Heritage Party
- Labour Party
- Liberal Democrats
- ReformUK
- Rejoin EU
- Social Democratic Party
- Green Party
- Laurence Fox (Independent)
- Farah London (Independent)
- Gabe Romualdo (Independent)
Support OnLondon.co.uk and its writers for just £5 a month of £50 a year and get things for your money too. Details HERE. Threads: DaveHillOnLondon. X/Twitter: On London and Dave Hill.