Tory London mayor candidate condemned for ‘offensive’ comments about Notting Hill Carnival

Susan Hall branded ‘offensive’ over policy

Susan Hall, the Conservative Party candidate for the Mayor of London election in 2024 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

The Conservative candidate for mayor of London is facing criticism after she branded the Notting Hill carnival “dangerous” and said it should be moved.

Susan Hall, who is facing off against Sadiq Khan next year said the event put residents through “hell” and should be moved for the safety of “the innocent”.

It comes after Ms Hall was last year criticised for claiming the Black community has a “problem with crime”.

The carnival, a celebration of British Caribbean culture, has been held since 1966 and is the largest such event in Europe, attracting between one and two million attendees.

Notting Hill has been a focal point for London’s Caribbean community since the 1950s, when many new arrivals in Britain were attracted to its cheap rents. The area has since gentrified and is now highly affluent.

Ms Hall has repeatedly called for the carnival to be moved, in 2020 asking: “Why do we permit this vandalism every year?”

“I attended Notting Hill carnival last year [2019] to understand the police operation,” she said at the time.

“It was unbelievable. I don’t think the public realise just how dangerous it can get. Astonishing that we should put our police in this position every year and the cost to the taxpayers is eye-watering.”

In 2019 she said: “I’ve already said on Twitter that I think the carnival should be moved”, adding that this was “for the safety of the police, the innocent that attend and the poor residents that live in the area”.

Labour's shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, who is MP for Tottenham, said it was “astonishing” for Ms Hall to be running as Tory candidate in the capital while holding such “offensive views”.

“In London, we’re proud of our diversity and it’s something we celebrate and see as a strength, not a weakness,” he said.

“London has been shaped in many ways by Black and Caribbean culture and heritage, and there is no greater celebration of this than Notting Hill Carnival, which is famous around the world.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (PA Wire)

“For someone running to be Mayor of London to express these offensive views about Notting Hill Carnival and London’s Black communities is astonishing. But it’s just another example of how the Tory candidate is a hard-right politician who is out of touch, does not share London’s values, and hates our city’s great diversity.

“It’s also deeply worrying that someone running to be Mayor of a city as diverse as London has spoken out so aggressively against those campaigning for greater racial justice. Her views make her totally unfit to be Mayor.”

A spokesperson for Ms Hall said she made “no apology for condemning violence at public events and demonstrations”.

The Notting Hill Carnival was in 2006 voted a national “icon” in a BBC poll alongside Big Ben, Blackpool Tower, and Hadrian’s Wall.

The 2023 event takes place on Sunday 27 August and is expected to be attended by around two million people. It did not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.