James Cleverly quits shadow cabinet to run for London mayor

Sir James Cleverly, Conservative Party MP, is quitting the shadow cabinet to run for London mayor in 2028.

The former foreign secretary and Braintree MP said the capital needed “a champion, someone who understands its potential and is prepared to fight for its future”.

In an op-ed for the Sunday Times, he wrote: “I have told Kemi Badenoch that I will leave the shadow cabinet. Serving there has been a privilege, and I know there will continue to be strong voices around that table.

“But to run the most effective campaign possible, I must be free to speak about every aspect of London’s future and concentrate fully on winning this race.”

Sir James, who is the Tory party’s shadow minister for housing, communities and local government, will resign from the shadow cabinet with immediate effect.

Labour’s Sir Sadiq Khan has been London mayor since 2016 and is currently halfway through his third term but has not confirmed if he will run again.

In his op-ed, Sir James claimed Sir Sadiq “saw City Hall as his springboard into No 10” but that this ambition disappeared when Sir Keir Starmer became Labour leader.

He said: “London’s reputation has been allowed to slip, at home and abroad, while too many of its problems have been left to fester.”

The Braintree MP said that London’s success is driving the British economy and argued that “the route both to Britain’s economic recovery and to the next Conservative government runs through London.”

Speculation has rumbled for months that Sir James, who has held the shadow housing, communities and local government brief since last July, was considering a bid to run City Hall.

His move leaves an empty post ahead of an expected reshuffle of the shadow cabinet by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch.

He wrote: “I have told Kemi Badenoch that I will leave the shadow cabinet. Serving there has been a privilege, and I know there will continue to be strong voices around that table. But to run the most effective campaign possible, I must be free to speak about every aspect of London’s future and concentrate fully on winning this race.

“The Conservative Party, and London, needs a credible candidate with the experience and confidence to win. I know this city. I know the job. I know I can do it. And I know I can beat whoever Labour puts forward.