Susan Hall has unveiled her manifesto for the London mayoral election with a pledge to “stop the war on motorists”.
The Conservative candidate for City Hall, who is running against Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan, revealed her “written, signed commitment to Londoners” at an event in Bexley today.
She said: “For eight years, we’ve had a Mayor who won’t listen. It is time we changed that. I have been listening to you. You have shared your worries, your beliefs, and your dreams.
“And I hear you… this document is a written, signed commitment from me. On my first day as mayor, I will take this document to City Hall and order that the following priorities are put into action.”
Hall’s key priorities include: recruiting more police and making them local; scrapping the ULEZ expansion and pay-per-mile; building more family homes Londoners can afford; getting London moving and stopping the war on motorists; and promoting green choices.
On policing, Hall wants to recruit 1,500 new police officers and restore the borough-based system, as well as setting up two new police bases in each London borough. She also wants to tackle knife crime, with knife arches in schools, women’s safety, theft and reform the Met.
The Tory candidate said her policing priorities were “backed by a £200m investment,” which she sourced “from cutting a bloated City Hall staff budget to reducing excessive TfL staff perks, every penny of which will be spent making our streets safe”.
Scrapping the outer London ULEZ on day one has been a long-standing promise from Hall, who also said she will order Transport for London (TfL) to “cease enforcement of the expanded ULEZ”, while “Khan’s pay-per-mile plans will be cancelled”.
Khan has repeatedly said no such plan to bring in pay-per-mile exists, while Labour criticised Hall for failing to commit to keeping the TfL fare freeze in place, warning prices could go up.
Hall’s housing policies will see her “focus on high-density, low-rise homes… with tower blocks only permitted where it is appropriate”. She said she wants to increase build to rent and homes for ownership, including shared ownership, and fully protect the green belt.
Plans to “stop the war on motorists” from Hall include extending the Night Tube and reinstating the Freedom Pass and 60+ Oyster Card in peak morning hours. She wants to see low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) removed “where Londoners want them gone” and 20mph speed limits on main roads “reviewed and lifted where safe to do so”.
Hall wants London’s “iconic” black cabs to “go where buses can”; floating bus stops removed or adapted, and new ones stopped; action on dockless bikes being “discarded in the middle of the pavement”; more public toilets on TfL; and an independent TfL review to “improve customer service, reduce disruption, find efficiencies and put passenger safety first”.
And on her environmental pledges, Hall stressed that she wants to “provide a realistic path to net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible”. This includes: ramping up the number of electric charging points; accelerating the transition to electric buses; supporting car clubs and tree planting initiatives; tackling air pollution with a £50m high pollution hotspots fund
She also wants to reduce air pollution on the London Underground, with a “full review of air quality on the TfL network”.
Hall pledged: “I will ensure City Hall is focused exclusively on these bread-and-butter issues.
“In everything I do, I will ensure the burden on Londoners is as little as possible… I don’t believe that politicians should be allowed to take your money and spend it as they see fit, without a clear justification.
“So my ambition over the next four years will be to keep your council tax as low as possible, whilst being realistic about the urgent need to fund our police properly.”
She also appeared to walk back some of her rhetoric around Khan’s universal free school meals for primary school pupils, meaning the children of millionaires were eating for free – but did describe the scheme as “temporary”.
“I will do everything I can to support the most vulnerable in our city, by maintaining the temporary cost of living support measures such as the cost-of-living hub and the universal free school meals programme, ensuring children have healthy, nutritious meals,” she said.
But a London Labour spokesperson said: “We now have official confirmation that the Tory candidate Susan Hall would cancel universal free school meals and would raise Londoners’ travel fares.
“She won’t reform the Met. She has no plans to support young people, tackle the causes of crime or create jobs. She would cancel council home building, rip out cycle lanes and reverse the progress we’ve made cleaning up our air.
“The election on 2 May is a close two-horse race. The choice is between Sadiq and the Tories, who will take London backwards. Vote Labour for a fairer, safer, greener London for everyone.”