Tories select Windrush descendant Shaun Bailey as London Mayoral candidate to topple Sadiq Khan

THE next London mayoral election will be fought between two non-white candidates for the first time after Shaun Bailey was named as the Tory contestant.

The Windrush descendant won a ballot of Tory party members in the capital to beat two other candidates and will fight Labour’s Sadiq Khan in the 2020 mayoral election.

In an interview with the Sun earlier last month he pledged to implement a “zero tolerance” approach to crime, vowing to put 1,000 extra police officers on London’s streets if he wins the mayoralty.

Mr Bailey, a former advisor to David Cameron and current London Assembly member, will make his first major political speech at the Tory party conference in Birmingham this week.

He said yesterday: “Local government is important work and our city is facing real challenges.

"Violent crime is up. Gang crime is up. Knife crime is up.

"Our transport system faces a £1 billion hole in its operating budget.

“New homes are not being built fast enough. After two-and-a-half years of Sadiq Khan, it is clear we cannot afford more of the same.”

Mr Bailey’s family moved to London as part of the Windrush Generation and he was raised by his mother in North Kensington.

For many years Mr Bailey was a youth worker in Ladbroke Grove and entered politics through charity work.

Tory chairman Brandon Lewis welcomed Mr Bailey’s appointment, saying: “I’m delighted Shaun Bailey has been elected as our candidate.

"He is passionate about London and has the ideas London needs to continue to be the best capital city in the world.
“London is being let down by Sadiq Khan, who keeps breaking the promises he made to Londoners on crime, housing and transport. I know Shaun will hold him to account and outline his positive vision for London.”