Shaun Bailey: ‘Boris has asked me to consider running for mayor again’

The defeated Tory says he will hold Sadiq Khan to account on crime in his new role on the London Assembly
Shaun Bailey
Shaun Bailey
Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd

Shaun Bailey has vowed to hold Sadiq Khan to account on crime as he revealed Boris Johnson had asked him to consider standing again as the Tory mayoral candidate.

Mr Bailey has been appointed to the key post of chairing the London Assembly’s police and crime committee. He aims to use the role to ensure the Mayor delivers on pledges to tackle violent crime in his second term.

The Conservative said a better-than-expected performance in last month’s mayoral elections, in which he received almost a million votes and outperformed his party, had enabled him to become Mr Khan’s highest-profile critic at City Hall.

Asked whether he would consider running for mayor in 2024, he said “never say never” — and admitted he welcomed rumours of being given a seat in the House of Lords.

In an interview with the Standard, Mr Bailey said Mr Johnson called him as the election results were coming in and invited him to Downing Street. “He rang me on the night [and said] ‘Commiserations, I hope you don’t feel too badly, go and have a break with your family, come back and see me,’” Mr Bailey said.

“He asked: ‘You did such a good job, surely you will think about standing again?’ My take on this is that all elections are fought in unique circumstances. I offered myself because I thought I had something to offer. If I ever thought like that again and the members were prepared to select me, never say never. But right here, right now I just need to get some sleep.”

Last month the Sunday Times suggested Mr Bailey could be in line for a peerage. “Nobody has made me any such offer,” Mr Bailey said. “I hope they do, quite frankly. But I would have to ask my wife.”

He will become the first defeated mayoral candidate from either main party to return to City Hall to challenge their rival in office. Mr Bailey said he would chair the police committee in a non-partisan way.

“This isn’t about politics. This is about holding the mayor to account,” he said.

“I want to be clear: This isn’t about saving money. This is about maximising impact.”

He said he wanted to take the committee into the community to learn from victims of crime – and perpetrators. He also plans to examine potential “cultural drivers” of crime, such as rap music and gang videos posted online.

Mr Bailey said he was horrified to encounter a 14-year-old girl in Croydon who appeared to be carrying a “bore” (a knife).

“I said: ‘It’s not the norm for a 14-year-old girl to be armed’. She said: ‘It is round here.’”

His aim is to use “KPIs” (key performance indicators) to measure the success or otherwise of policies pursued by Mr Khan. In the past, the debate has focused on the scale of investment rather than in value for money, he said.

“He will always announce the amount of money he has spent,” Mr Bailey said. “He will never tell us what the impact of that money has been. I will be looking for qualitative and quantitative impacts from any penny we spend above £50.

“The history of policing, and indeed the Mayor’s approach to policy, has always been devoid of solid KPIs. Because of the historically high levels of crime we have in London now, we need a clear route map.

“We are at the point the levels of crime are changing what it means to be a Londoner. I speak to young Londoners who can’t do things I did when I was young, because they don’t feel safe. I speak to elderly people who feel trapped in their own homes.

“We have had an 87 per cent increase in robbery. What is the Mayor’s target to reduce robbery? Is he going to bring it down 20 per cent or 80 per cent? It isn’t for me to set that target – that is for him – but it is for me to ask: what is the road map to that target?”

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