As the mayoral elections loom, Labour candidate and current mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Conservative candidate, Susan Hall’s environmental policies are coming under intense scrutiny.
By Matt Ingham
As the mayoral elections loom, Labour candidate and current mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Conservative candidate, Susan Hall’s environmental policies are coming under intense scrutiny. With life-long Labour voters becoming sceptical of Sadiq, and Conservative campaigners triumphing Hall’s plans, could Khan’s time as Mayor of London be about to come to an end?
Sue Montague has always been a Labour voter, and believes that “Sadiq Khan… has done a good job overall” but condemns his inaction on conservation projects in Ealing, telling the Echo she will be “voting Green” on 2 May, as she believes it’s “the only way to get a commitment to the environment”.
Montague isn’t the only one quick to condemn Sadiq Khan. Local campaigner and Dagenham and Rainham Conservative chair, Ben Suter, believes “the thing with Sadiq Khan is… he doesn’t care about London… people are tired of [Khan], there’s days where I go campaigning, and a speak to 200 to 250 people, and not a single person says they’re voting for [Khan].”
Suter condemns Khan’s approach, he believes “It isn’t about slamming drivers with taxes… or forcing people to pay more on their bills”, triumphing Susan Hall’s apparent “common sense approach”. Hall’s ULEZ stance is the polar opposite of Khan’s, promising to scrap it on day one, with Suter telling the Echo, “Susan’s alternative to ULEZ is no alternative, the alternative is getting rid of it, that’s the only thing we need to do.”
Hall has also condemned rumours that he plans to replace it with a pay-per-mile scheme, the same strategy that Green candidate, Zoe Garbett, has also proposed, citing disproportionate impacts on working people: it isn’t millionaires going around driving diesel guzzling cars”, says Suter, “it’s white van men… builders, we’ve got charities with volunteers who are going to have to scrap their cars, it isn’t fair and it isn’t right”.
According to data from the World Economic Forum, the ULEZ has reduced pollution levels by more than a quarter since its introduction in April 2019, despite this, Suter is clear that “there’s no way that this scheme makes London’s air quality any cleaner… it is nothing more than a car tax… just to put more money in Khan’s pocket.” But with data to contradict, this could raise questions about the truth of some of Hall’s claims.
The latest voter intention data shows that Khan is polling at 40% and Hall at 35.3%, but with many voters’ rising concerns over candidates’ environmental policy, and life-long voters questioning their choices for the first time, it’s all still to play for.
