Sadiq Khan showed little sign of being discomfited by the result of the Uxbridge by-election in July. In spite of Keir Starmer imploring him to reflect on his Ulez expansion he went ahead anyway, with a token offer in the form of slightly enhanced grants for motorists replacing elderly vehicles.
But perhaps Khan should have taken more notice of Starmer. A poll by JL Partners for the Sun this morning reveals that Khan’s lead over Conservative candidate Susan Hall has fallen to 3 per cent, with Khan now on 35 per cent of the vote and Hall 32 per cent.
Outer London won it for Johnson twice, and it is outer London which threatens to unseat Khan next year
It is a reminder that London isn’t just made up of Labour-voting metropolitan areas in the centre – Greater London includes large suburban areas where demographics and attitudes are very different. It was outer London that won it for Boris Johnson in 2008 and 2012, and outer London which threatens to unseat Sadiq Khan next year.
One thing which has been rather overlooked in the case of next year’s mayoral elections is that the rules have changed. For
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