London mayor: Paul Scully fails to make Conservative Party shortlist

London MP and government minister Paul Scully has failed to make the shortlist to become the Conservative candidate to fight the city's next mayoral contest.

He was beaten into the final three by Susan Hall, a member of the London Assembly, former Number 10 aide Daniel Korski and barrister Mozammel Hossain.

Mr Scully says he is "disappointed" by the decision but thanked campaigners for their "incredible" support.

The winner will go up against current Labour mayor Sadiq Khan next May.

In response, Mr Khan accused the Conservative party of "running scared" of their national political record by failing to select a government minister to run against him.

The Conservatives say Mr Khan has hiked up council tax for Londoners to record levels, is "failing to keep Londoners safe", and has "broken his promises on strikes".

Their candidate shortlist was drawn up following interviews by a selection panel at Conservative party headquarters.

The successful Tory candidate is due to be announced on 19 July after a series of hustings and a ballot of party members.

Mr Scully was elected MP for Sutton and Cheam in 2015 and has been minister for London since 2020 but stood back from that role during the selection process.

As the only MP on the longlist, many had assumed he would be hard to beat.

As minister for technology and the digital economy, he had a key part in shaping the Online Safety Bill - legislation designed to protect people from harmful content while preserving principles of freedom of speech.

Mr Scully said: "I'd like to extend my deepest gratitude to Team Scully, the many volunteers, activists, councillors, AMs and MPs across London who supported my campaign.

"Your dedication and scale of support has been incredible."

Mr Khan added: "You've got a Conservative party who have stopped the Minister for London from standing to be the Conservative mayoral candidate, because they're clearly running scared of standing on the Conservative record.

"I'm going to be standing on my record next May and I'll be pointing out the Conservative record over the last 14 years."

Ms Hall was, until last month, leader of the Conservative group on the London Assembly where she has demonstrated a combative style in scrutinising and criticising the current Labour mayor.

She said that made her "ideally placed" to challenge Mr Khan next May.

The former Harrow councillor has vowed to restore confidence in the police on issues like burglary, theft and women's safety.

Ms Hall is part of a nine-strong Tory opposition group at City Hall that has been raising questions over the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) and pressurising the mayor to scrap its planned expansion to outer London from 29 August.

Mr Korski was deputy head of policy at 10 Downing Street and a special adviser to David Cameron.

He campaigned for the UK to stay in the EU and left frontline politics after the Brexit vote in 2016.

He founded a technology company that provides advice on digital strategy to clients including government departments and public bodies.

Finding better ways to use technology to improve the capital's public services is at the heart of his bid.

He claims the ULEZ expansion is unnecessary, and it would be possible to move more quickly than the current mayor is saying to a more sophisticated road-user charging scheme - where drivers pay according to what journeys they do and at what time.

The inclusion of Mr Hossain will be a surprise to many because it did not appear widely known that he had applied.

He is a leading barrister and King's Counsel and has been described by the Court of Appeal as an advocate of "great eloquence".

Mr Hossain was born in Barisal, Bangladesh, and came to the UK in 1995.

In 2019, he became the first Bangladeshi-born criminal barrister to be appointed Queen's Counsel.

Mr Khan's Conservative opponent in the last mayoral election in 2021, Shaun Bailey, has meanwhile been offered a peerage by former prime minister and ex-London mayor, Boris Johnson.

Commenting on the news, Mr Khan joked about the 2024 election: "What I'd say to the three candidates is, obviously I'm hoping that I win and I'm chosen, but the good news for them is anyone who loses gets a job in the House of Lords."

In a statement on Sunday, issued as the shortlist of candidates was published, Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands MP said: "All three of these individuals have shown great commitment to fighting Sadiq Khan and to bettering London with the Conservatives.

"I thank all of the candidates that put their name forward for this process and look forward to the hustings to come."

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