I know nothing at all about this lady but anything is better than the current holder of this important office!

Only I can beat Sadiq Khan, says no-nonsense Tory candidate for London Mayor Susan Hall.

The former council leader shares her plans for tackling crime, the hated Ulez expansion and making a ‘sodding difference’ in the capital

ByWill Hazell, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT17 June 2023 • 9:00pm

'I'm the only one that's sat and taken Khan to task every month for the last six years' CREDIT: David Rose

Susan Hall is not one to mince her words. Explaining why she is running to be the Conservatives’ candidate for London Mayor, the former Harrow Council leader says it is not about profile raising or “ego” but to “make a sodding difference.”

Elsewhere in our interview, she talks about her desire to “take London by its throat” to “sort this bloody mess out” – her description of seven years of Sadiq Khan’s rule. Hall, 68, may not be the favourite to secure the Tory nomination. That label probably goes to Daniel Korski – the tech entrepreneur and former David Cameron adviser who is believed to be Number 10’s preferred candidate. Mozammel Hossain, a KC who grew up in Bangladesh, is the third candidate on the shortlist.

But although she may not have Korski’s whizzy campaign videos and list of Cabinet endorsements, and while she professes to lack the oratorical skills Hossain honed at the bar, she believes her no-nonsense approach and connection to ordinary Londoners make her the best placed person to defeat Khan.

“I’m not as polished a speaker as they are,” she admits, when we meet in a central London cafe near Victoria station on an already sweltering morning. “But I know what needs to be done for Londoners. And it isn’t lots of expensive shiny things, it’s actually policing, transport and housing.” DT.