Susan Hall: Who is the Tory London mayoral candidate taking on Sadiq Khan?

Susan Hall has been announced as the Tory candidate who will challenge Sadiq Khan in next year’s London mayoral election.

As a member of the London Assembly for five years, she is no stranger to City Hall and has regularly faced off against the current leader at Mayor’s Question Time.

Ms Hall was chosen by London Conservative party members after running on a platform of safety and “fears”.

Her tagline is “Safer with Susan” and during the selection race, she called herself “the candidate Sadiq Khan fears the most”.

London Labour has called her a “hard-right politician who couldn’t be more out of touch with our city and its values”.

With an election scheduled for May 4 next year, Sky News looks at her political career and campaigning priorities.

Party: Conservative
Campaigning priorities: Reverse the ULEZ expansion, crack down on crime
Notable achievements: Leader of the London Conservatives on the London Assembly from 2019 until May 2023

Hair salon owner who wanted to be a mechanic

Ms Hall is from Harrow in northwest London, where she owns a hair salon and raised her family.

She has said she originally wanted to be a mechanic and worked in her father’s garage after finishing school, but struggled to get into technical college as a woman.

She was elected to Harrow Council in 2006 and went on to lead the council from 2013 to 2014.

London Assembly

Ms Hall has been a member of the London Assembly since 2017, replacing now cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch after her election to parliament.

The London Assembly is part of the Greater London Authority and is made up of 25 elected individuals who scrutinise the actions of the mayor and investigate issues of importance to Londoners.

She became deputy leader for the London Assembly Conservatives in 2018 and served as leader from 2019 to 2023.

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Campaigning priorities

Tackling crime, the housing crisis and ULEZ are all high on Ms Hall’s list of priorities, detailed on her campaign website.

She said she will “hunt down and lock up” muggers and burglars by creating a special team within the Met tasked with tackling them.

She promised to stop the ULEZ expansion on day one, “no ifs, no buts”.

Ms Hall also said she will address the housing crisis by “building a lot more homes in the right places”.

Her words after being selected

In a statement, Ms Hall said it was a “huge honour to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London”.

She said Mr Khan, who is in his second term as London Mayor, has made no significant achievements during his time in office and has no “interest in loving others”.

“He (Sadiq Khan) goes on trips while young people get stabbed on our streets,” she said.

“He’s more interested in selling his book than he is helping Londoners with the cost of living.

“When things go wrong, he hires an army of spin doctors to convince you it’s actually not his fault.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

‘Hard right politician’

After Ms Hall’s selection was announced, London Labour hit back with a scathing assessment about her record and views, branding her a “hard-right politician who couldn’t be more out of touch with our city and its values”.

It continued: “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.”