As the door closes on the general election, the battle for London beings. It is now a year until Boris hands over the mayoral reins to a new mayor For London but already potential candidates are throwing their hats into the ring. Boris will be a hard act to follow but big names aren’t necessarily what London needs.
According to Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the British Property Federation, the lack of big hitters in the mayoral contest may be no bad thing. Fletcher – who worked with Siobhan Benita, the independent candidate in the 2012 contest – says the time for showmen may have passed.
“In the first few mayoral elections big personalities were needed to wrestle powers from Whitehall – and it’s easy to forget those powers would not have come to London if we hadn’t had mayors who could stand up to central government. But as time goes on the job is perhaps less personality driven,” he says.
