Andrew Boff, a veteran Conservative London Assembly Member, has confirmed he will again seek his party's nomination to run for Mayor of London in 2028, marking his seventh attempt. Boff, who currently chairs the London Assembly, has contested the Tory candidacy in every election since 2000, except 2012 when Boris Johnson ran for a second term.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Boff revealed he was actually the first Conservative to declare his interest in the 2028 race, doing so on the day Sir Sadiq Khan won his third term in office.
A promise to win and a call for change
“I've always had a set of principles that I think work for London, and so I put my name forward,” Boff said. “It's up to the Conservative Party if I should be the person to lead them in London. I make a simple promise - if you select me, I will win. I won't just do well, I will win, because I know London, inner and outer boroughs, the suburbs, extraordinarily well.”
Boff argued that the party faces a clear choice: “They can either have a winner who has got tailored policies for London to meet the needs of Londoners, which are different from other parts of the country. Or they can go somebody who's going to do a good job of getting as many Tory votes as possible. But it's not core votes, it's more votes that we need.”
He added: “I've done every contest there's been. We now definitely need a change [from Sir Sadiq]. There's an opening here for a candidate who can appeal to not just Conservative voters, not just to Reform voters, but also to those Labour voters, many of whom [we] share some instincts with.”
Challenging his own party on London issues
Boff is known at City Hall for being willing to challenge his own national party on issues that impact London. He was nominated as chair of the London Assembly for the third time in May, with outgoing chair Lord Len Duvall, a Labour Assembly Member, praising him for thinking “out of the box and challenges his own group to think about issues raised in this chamber”. City Hall Conservatives group leader Susan Hall seconded the motion, saying the assembly was “very lucky” to have the 68-year-old, despite the occasional rebellion.
Boff was famously marched out of the Conservative Party Conference in 2023 after heckling then Home Secretary Suella Braverman. He said this philosophy will carry into his campaign: “I know how Londoners think. I know where London is, and I'm not so keen on some of the things that the Conservative Party does nationally. We need to tune our message towards having a Mayor who speaks for London, not just for a party. It's very easy to get our core vote out. But we need more votes - and that means addressing uncomfortable issues.”
Opposing Heathrow expansion and other policies
This includes contravening the national party message on Heathrow expansion. On the same day Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith said the Tories would do “whatever it takes” to boost expansion by backing the third runway, Boff reiterated his opposition, branding current plans as “unambitious” and “mealy mouthed”, and saying Kemi Badenoch's party were wrong to back a move that won't lead to “real growth”.
Other headline policies include changing the current grant structure for housebuilding to encourage the construction of more family-sized homes, and reforming the London Plan to promote lower density properties instead of tower blocks. Boff says he has a “thoroughly worked-on programme” which he has been tinkering with over two decades, and which will be released soon.
“It works for London, it works for the boroughs,” he hints. “It means the boroughs get more control over what they're doing. It means that the taxpayers in London pay a little less [to City Hall]. And it also means the GLA responds to what local people actually want rather than just issuing press releases.”
Boff will face former Home Secretary James Cleverly, Westminster City Councillor Festus Akinbusoye, and businessman Alex Challoner. The party is yet to confirm the final list, after which a selection panel will whittle the choices down to a final two. After a series of hustings, party members will vote for their chosen candidate, with the decision expected before the end of the year.
