Conservative mayoral hopeful James Cleverly has vowed to be a "champion" for London and resist any "anti-London" decisions taken by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The former Cabinet Minister, who quit the Tory frontbench to focus on his London Mayoral bid, said he would end the "negative spiral" of struggling businesses, unaffordable housing and the cost of living squeeze through a positive campaign which "unleashes" the city's economic potential.
Speaking exclusively to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Cleverly – who is seen as the frontrunner to become the party's candidate for the 2028 race – accused Sir Sadiq Khan of failing to keep up the same level of vehement opposition to current government decisions that negatively impact London compared to under the previous Conservative administration. He claimed he would be willing to stand up to Prime Ministers of any political persuasion if a decision would impact the capital.
Khan 'Very, Very Quiet' on London's Behalf
"He [Khan] has gone very, very quiet over the last couple of years," the Braintree MP told MyLondon's new podcast, The London Brief. "Previously, he banged the table and demanded stuff for London, but he's gone very quiet recently. You need someone who is willing to have a row with the government, whether it's your own or a different political party."
Whether the current Mayor of London has gone quiet as Mr Cleverly suggests is a subjective matter. Sir Sadiq has been far more praiseworthy of both Mr Burnham and ex-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer compared to any of their Conservative predecessors. However, he has publicly called for further fiscal devolution, funding for housebuilding and more money for "core public services" like policing at this month's Autumn Budget.
Devolution 'Meaningless' Without Economic Freedom
Downing Street's new occupant has been keen to mention his love of devolution, which means relinquishing centralised powers in Whitehall to local leaders and Mayors. However, there have been concerns that a purposeful rebalancing of the country may draw significant funding out of London towards the north of England. For some, these fears have already played out. The government's updated Fair Funding Review has prompted complaints from some boroughs in the capital that future resources will be curbed, while the planned 'mansion tax' is set to disproportionately hit London's homes due to inflated property prices.
Mr Cleverly said that Mr Burnham's devolutionary drive has been "meaningless", and called on No 10 to hand down more economic freedom to City Hall that would allow the city to be "unleashed". He added: "You're basically told: 'Here's devolved power, but you have to use it to do what I would do centrally'. That's where I think devolution hasn't quite worked. What I want to do is prove that actually, unleashing the potential of entrepreneurs in London, lifting lower paid Londoners out of their tax bracket, reducing the cost of living for young families, encouraging young people to bring up their families and live and work in London. That actually generates more tax money than this squeeze that we're seeing from the Labour government."
"Andy Burnham doesn't believe that. That's fine. But if he genuinely believes in devolution, he should allow the Mayor of London to prove that easing the tax burden actually generates more economic activity. I want to prove that there is a different and better way of governing. If Andy Burnham then wants to steal those ideas, totally happy with that. But London has always been, and must always be, a real powerhouse for the UK economy. With a right Mayor making London a city that we can be proud of, unleashing its energy and its potential, we can prove a point that there is a different and better way of governing both the city and ultimately the country."
Housing Crisis and Police Numbers Blamed on Khan
The former Home Secretary also blamed Westminster and City Hall for London's housing crisis, saying the current shortage and affordability catastrophe was one of Sir Sadiq's "most significant failures". He acknowledged difficult global conditions that the Mayor is keen to point out – particularly high construction costs and interest rates – but said Labour's housebuilding policies had now "killed off the market" for good. The new London Plan, he claimed, has "taken the national guidance for housebuilding and has added a whole load of extra criteria on top of that."
He said: "The supplementary guidance has added even more complexity. This all adds delay, this adds cost, it makes it harder, more expensive. Then national policies that Andy Burnham has brought in, adding additional property taxes, stripping money away from local councils in London - these have all added to the cost." The housing crisis is not contained within itself, he said, pointing out that talent has already left London, and will continue to – leading to a "negative spiral" which could doom the capital.
"We've now got a terrible situation where young people, even young people on really very impressive salaries, are thinking of leaving London," Mr Cleverly said. "Some of them are thinking of going to places like Dubai. But even people on modest salaries, perhaps especially people on modest salaries, are thinking [the same]. So we're losing talent, and that is a real problem. What happens is you get that negative spiral, where London's nightlife starts suffering, because young people can't afford to go out and enjoy themselves, the hospitality industry suffers. And then there aren't people out and about at night, so London feels deserted after dark, that can be intimidating. Businesses are thinking: 'Do we really want to locate in London if there aren't the staff there, because they're all leaving the city?' I worry that because of Sadiq Khan's inaction, London's starting to get into that negative spiral. It's not inevitable, and we can do something about it. But what we have got to do is recognise that it all starts with people actually being able to afford to live in London."
This brain drain is also the cause of London's police officer shortage, Mr Cleverly suggested. The Metropolitan Police has announced earlier this year that it needs 38,000 officers and 19,000 staff based on London’s population and a comparison to other police forces internationally. However – despite record investment from City Hall – Met Police officer numbers have fallen from 34,523 in April 2023 to 31,181 in March 2026, around 400 fewer than when Sir Sadiq took office a decade ago. City Hall was consistently in a war of words with Mr Cleverly's Conservative government over police funding, with the Mayor claiming that ministers were leaving London short.
"The truth is that the Conservatives put money on the table," Mr Cleverly insisted. "Because Sadiq failed in his recruitment target for officers, that money was reallocated. That money stayed in policing. And it could have been his. If he had really got to grips with police recruitment in London, the money was there. He failed - the money was redistributed to police forces around the area. As the Police and Crime Commissioner for London, if Sadiq Khan had done his job properly, the money would have been his. He's trying to rewrite history, saying that police numbers fell because he didn't have the money. It's the other way round. He failed to recruit so the money that was on the table was reallocated to policing elsewhere in the southeast of England."
One of the reasons that he has struggled goes back to affordability. Police officers on public sector salaries really feel the cost of living pinch. They are often people that live in the outer London boroughs, or even in the home counties, who drive into work, and they're getting penalised for doing so. "If we want to have doctors and nurses, if we want to have teachers, if you want to have police officers, if you want to have firefighters, if you want to have those people that basically keep London safe and vibrant, it's got to be affordable for them. Khan has made London so expensive that, frankly, police officers don't want to work in London anymore. That's the problem and it's in the Mayor's gift to deal with it." City Hall was contacted for comment.
