The bicycles have been brought out and eager fists are getting ready to knock on hundreds of doors as the race for one of the most sought-after jobs in British politics springs into action.<\/p>\n
Sadiq Khan has had a vice-like grip on London, but a range of candidates hoping to unseat him in 2028 have announced themselves. The three-time mayor has been coy about whether he will stand again, and said he would make a decision next year.<\/p>\n
At the weekend, the former home secretary James Cleverly<\/a> was seen riding a wobbly Lime bike through London, declaring that \u201cLondon Bridge has got its mojo back\u201d and that he has a \u201csoft spot for Ealing\u201d, where he met his wife, Susie. Cleverly, the MP for Braintree in Essex, has declared he will seek to be the Conservative mayoral candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to run as an aspirational, entrepreneurial, forward-thinking Conservative candidate that is in tune with the city,\u201d he said, adding that he thought he could beat Khan even though London<\/a> is a left-leaning city: \u201cLondon is a much more pragmatic city when it comes to voting.\u201d<\/p>\n James Cleverly and the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau\/PA<\/p>\n Also standing in the contest to become the Tory mayoral candidate is Festus Akinbusoye, a Westminster councillor and Britain\u2019s first ever black police commissioner. He says he is the right candidate because he is a \u201cfresh face\u201d, adding: \u201cI\u2019ve not been part of a government in the past, but I come with solid private sector experience.\u201d<\/p>\n But the contest appears to be Khan\u2019s to lose, at the moment. A recent poll by Savanta UK for the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London, put Labour\u2019s candidate in the mayoral race on 33%, the Tories 18%, Reform UK 18%, Green party 17% and Liberal Democrats<\/a> 9%,.<\/p>\n The Conservatives\u2019 bid to unseat Khan is complicated by the presence of Reform. Laila Cunningham<\/a>, a former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, is Reform\u2019s candidate. She has been pounding the streets of London since the beginning of this year trying to drum up support.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not stepping aside for the Tories,\u201d she told the Guardian. \u201cHow many times have they tried to unseat Khan? They have failed.\u201d<\/p>\n Reform\u2019s Laila Cunningham: \u2018I\u2019m not stepping aside for the Tories.\u2019 Photograph: Jack Taylor\/Reuters<\/p>\n Cleverly, she says, is \u201cliterally the establishment and he\u2019s gone from one ministerial job from another\u201d. She thinks he will be picked as the Tory mayoral candidate and said: \u201cIt will be two Sirs versus a woman. Sir Khan and Sir Cleverly.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the rightwing vote looks evenly divided between Tories and Reform, she is confident she can charm some of Khan\u2019s voters: \u201cIt is not a left or right divide either, we won nine seats in Barking and Dagenham in the local elections, where the Tories wouldn\u2019t dream of winning one.\u201d<\/p>\n Cunningham, the daughter of Egyptian immigrants, said she was \u201cnot your typical Reform person. People often see me and say they are surprised I am in Reform.\u201d<\/p>\n Akinbusoye is on the licensing committee of Westminster council, which is consulting to restrict \u201cvertical drinking\u201d in pubs<\/a> \u2013 standing and drinking. Cunningham said: \u201cThat says it all. The fact they even call it vertical drinking is a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent East, has said she would run if Sadiq Khan confirmed he would not seek a third term. Photograph: Guy Smallman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The Labour MP Dawn Butler<\/a> hinted at her intention to run this week: a video of herself walking past a sign reading \u201ca new Dawn for London\u201d, captioned: \u201cWhen London puts up signs saying \u2018A New Dawn\u2019 \u2026 what else was I supposed to do?\u201d<\/p>\n