Anti-immigration party Reform UK names Laila Cunningham, a former lawyer and councillor, as its candidate for the 2028 London mayoral election.
LONDON: The anti-immigration Reform UK party has named Muslim businesswoman and former lawyer Laila Cunningham as its candidate for London’s 2028 mayoral election.
Party leader Nigel Farage announced Cunningham as the pick to contest the post held since 2016 by Labour’s Sadiq Khan.
Khan, the capital’s first Muslim mayor, has been fiercely criticised by the far-right for policies celebrating London’s diversity and large immigrant population.
He has not announced if he will seek a fourth term.
Born to Egyptian immigrant parents, the 48-year-old is Reform’s first local councillor in London.
Farage said Cunningham would lead an ambitious bid to win big in local elections in London this May.
The party could struggle to win over voters in the diverse metropolis despite growing popularity elsewhere.
At a press conference, Farage described Cunningham as “articulate… passionate” and “a mother”.
Elected in Westminster in 2022 as a Conservative, she defected to Reform last year.
Born in London to parents who arrived from Egypt in the 1960s, she called London the “greatest city in the world”.
“But I am not blind to what it has become,” she added, vowing there would be a “new sheriff in town”.
Cunningham previously worked as a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service but resigned last year over politically partisan comments.
“People that come to London have to embrace British culture,” she said on Wednesday.
“You don’t come to London expecting London to change for you.”
She announced her priority would be fighting crime, arguing London “is no longer safe” particularly for women while attacking Khan’s policies.
