Former Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner to run for mayor of London

Mr Akinbusoye, a Westminster City Councillor who has previously run as a Parliamentary candidate for the party, has today thrown his hat into the ring amid rumours of an impending internal contest involving high-profile names.

It comes as Senior Conservative Sir James Cleverly on Saturday he will stand down as shadow housing secretary to take a run at the Tory candidacy for London mayor.

The Tories have fallen short to Sir Sadiq Khan in each of the last three elections since Boris Johnson stood down as mayor of London.

But Mr Akinbusoye says his campaign will be different. Unlike any of the previous Conservative candidates, the former Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has no experience in Westminster or City Hall.

“My proposition to London is this,” Mr Akinbusoye told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

“I’m a fresh face. I’ve not been part of a government in the past, but I come with solid private sector experience, having set up a small business with the help of the Prince’s Trust.

“I come with lived experience of the issues many people in London face around homelessness and the cost of living, coming here as an immigrant and the son of a cleaner, and, of course, with a background in policing.

“I bring a completely different backstory and professional experience across both the public and private sectors, alongside a very clear vision – to make sure London is an affordable home to stay and raise a family, safe enough to live and work, with opportunities in all our boroughs.

“I want London to work for Londoners, because London works when Londoners work. We need a Mayor and a City Hall that actually work for Londoners rather than against them.”

The capital’s housing crisis will be front and centre of Mr Akinbusoye’s bid to win the election, should he get the Tory nod.

“This is not about ambition or ego; it’s personal,” he added. “I was one of those people who was literally priced out of London when I came here as an immigrant from Nigeria and set up my own business. I had to move 70 miles away from London to Milton Keynes.

“Moving back now and serving as a councillor here, it is 20 times worse for young people. I want to build a pathway for young people to be able to own their own homes in London and stay, rather than getting priced out of the city.”

He says the London Plan – the city’s spatial strategy which local authorities are meant to follow – has caused an exodus rather than stimulating housebuilding.

Safety is one reason for this – and he draws on his experience as the PCC in Bedfordshire to reflect on his policy of focusing on recruiting frontline officers to “crush crime” – but the affordability of homes is another.

Accusing City Hall of failing to work closely with developers to “build the homes that Londoners want, where they want them to be”, he says he would reform the London Plan and set out a “realistic pathway” for renters towards home ownership.

Mr Akinbusoye previously stood as Conservative candidate in the 2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election following the resignation of Nadine Dorries, coming in second place to Labour's Alistair Strathern.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “We will be selecting a candidate in due course.”