Greg Hands has just announced that Susan Hall has won the Tory mayoral candidate contest, beating rival Moz Hossain.
Ms Hall won 57 percent of the vote from Conservative Party members, to Mr Hossain’s 43 percent.
Ms Hall was often portrayed as the ‘grassroots’ option, and Tory Party chairman Greg Hands said she will bring a “breath of fresh air” to London and City Hall.
Susan Hall now faces a long, uphill battle to take the fight to Sadiq Khan next year.
She said it is a “huge honour to be your candidate”, and said it “leaves me with an important responsibility”.
“I will work tirelessly to defeat Sadiq Khan, and offer none of the Londoners a chance they desperately need”.
“He has absolutely no interest in helping others. He only cares about himself. He’s failing Londoners.
“He goes on trips to cannabis factories while young people are getting stabbed on our streets. He’s more interested in selling his book than he is in helping Londoners with the cost of living.
“And when things go wrong, he has an army of spin doctors to convince you that it’s actually not his fault.
“Londoners deserved so much better.”
Responding to the announcement, Labour put out a pre-prepared attack accusing Ms Hall of being a “hard-right politician” who supports Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
“The Conservative candidate for Mayor is a hard-right politician who couldn’t be more out of touch with our city and its values. She’s an outspoken supporter of Trump, Boris Johnson and a hard Brexit. She cheered Liz Truss’s mini-budget, which sent mortgages and rents soaring. She doesn’t stand up for women. And she hates London’s diversity.
“Londoners deserve better than a candidate who represents the worst of the Tory failure and incompetence over the last 13 years.”
The Tories’ London mayoral contest has been beset with a number of upsets throughout, including the blocking of two candidates thought to be frontrunners: London minister Paul Scully and former No. 10 advisor Sam Kasumu.
The next frontrunner, Daniel Korski, had to drop out amid groping allegations.
Susan Hall that over the next 10 months she will “expose Sadiq Khan for who he really is”.
“it isn’t about fame or glory for me or us. I’m not interested in the perks of the job. I’m focusing on the job itself.
“I will ensure none of the 299 days we have left to go go to waste. We will see each day with purpose and passion and with an unwavering focus on winning.
“People may sneer and they may underestimate us but I will give them everything. We will give everything to the city that has given us so much. Colleagues. We can do it. We will defeat him and we will deliver the change that London needs.”
