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Susan Hall celebrates her nomination at the Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge (PA)

Conservative members in London have chosen Susan Hall, a member of the Greater London Assembly (GLA), to be their candidate in the mayoral election in May 2024. She defeated the only other surviving candidate – Moz Hossain KC, a criminal barrister and political newbie – by 57 to 43 per cent in a ballot of about 20,000. Her strongest potential rival, Daniel Korski, had to drop out because of allegations about his personal behaviour.

There was gossip that Hall and Hossain were originally placed on the candidate list by Tory managers to make it more likely that Korski would win. Paul Scully MP for Sutton and Cheam, was kept off the shortlist for the same reason, the rumour goes. In any case, Hall is now the Conservatives’ best hope of pulling off a minor political miracle.

She claims to be the candidate Sadiq Khan fears most. Aside from a pledge to abolish the controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) extension to outer London, she has also promised: “The central part of my campaign will be around policing because people do not feel safe in London and I’ve got lots of policies that will be coming out in order to make people feel safe."