Rob Blackie, the Liberal Democrat who finished third in the 2024 London Mayoral election, has officially launched his campaign to be his party's candidate again for the 2028 race. He secured 145,184 votes (5.8 per cent) in the last contest, the party's best City Hall result since 2008, beating the Green candidate Zoe Garbett by just 70 votes.
Blackie's announcement comes amid a more crowded political field. Reform UK has already named its candidate, and the Green Party made significant gains in May's local elections. Despite this, Blackie said he is motivated by the "failures of the Mayor".
Rents and crime at the forefront
In an exclusive interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Blackie criticised Sir Sadiq Khan, who has not yet decided whether to run for a fourth term, for allowing rents to "shoot through the roof" and for a rise in sexual offences. A recent Freedom of Information request to the Met Police revealed that sexual offences increased from 24,825 in 2022 to 26,481 in 2025.
"We can make a big difference - a few years ago, people were still feeling quite hopeful about Labour," Blackie said. "They thought they might change things. Sadiq Khan, in fact, said that if you had a Labour government and a Labour Mayor, we'd have a sort of nirvana in London. We've got that now, and things haven't changed very much - that gives us a great opportunity to be the real opposition here in London."
Polling and party progress
A recent Savanta UK poll for the Mile End Institute put the prospective Labour candidate on 33 per cent, the Tories and Reform UK on 18 per cent each, the Greens on 17 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats in single digits. Blackie, however, pointed to progress, including the election of Bobby Dean in Carshalton and Wallington and Luke Taylor in Sutton and Cheam in the last General Election, as well as a gain of 63 extra seats in the capital in this year's local elections.
To reach the final two in May 2028, the Lib Dems would need support beyond their traditional strongholds in outer London. Blackie, who has campaigned across every borough, argues that concerns over rents and housing are shared by all Londoners.
Housing as a key solution
"You really can't afford to rent anything that isn't incredibly overcrowded or a huge chunk of your income if you're working age these days for most people," he said. "We have to make it much easier to build. The only way you can bring down rents is to build more housing. And we know that from international experience all around the world - places like America and New Zealand. And if we do that, that pushes down rents and makes life easier for everybody. It cuts poverty, makes it easier to recruit people like police, makes it easier to recruit people into the NHS."
His campaign will promote "high density but desirable" housing, citing Victorian mansion blocks in areas like Kensington as a model. "There are no gaps between the flats, people find them very attractive to live in, but also very high density and a very nice way to get density," he noted.
Blackie also took aim at the Mayor, calling him "ineffectual" during his decade in office, despite two years with a Labour government. "His job is to find solutions, not to complain about it," he added.
Nomination race and next steps
Blackie is not the only candidate for the Lib Dem nomination. Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney launched her campaign last week, promising a "bold and optimistic campaign" focused on pro-business policies. Blackie said: "We both only fight to win, but we're friends, we get on, we respect each other. So I'm sure it'll be a fun campaign."
The party will shortlist candidates by early next year, after which members will vote on the nominee.
