Susan Hall’s defeat was avoidable

It didn’t have to end this way. 

In more than two decades of campaigning I never encountered a politician more personally unpopular than Sadiq Khan. Even Labour voters seem lacklustre in their support. Against a backdrop in London of rising knife crime, hollowed-out night life, unpopular driving charges, increasingly unaffordable homes, endless divisive protests and a failing police force, it was easy to understand why. 

Sadiq Khan, seeking a third term, was beatable. That the Conservatives pulled defeat from this potential victory makes me, a former Conservative Member of the London Assembly and an activist for over two decades, both sad and angry. This was avoidable. Victory in London would have been a huge moment, giving pause for thought to those ready to count the Conservatives as dead and buried. 

No longer a party member, I feel I have a duty to be candid and offer my inside view on the process, policy and campaign failures that led to this defeat.