Reform’s Laila Cunningham slaps down James Cleverly as London mayor race heats up’We’ve built an election machine’: Laila Cunningham hits back at party conference at suggestion Reform can’t win London Mayor race
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Rachael Burford, Chief Political Correspondent @RachaelBurford2 minutes ago
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Reform’s Laila Cunningham has slapped down suggestions that she cannot win the London mayoral election as her party faces a police investigation over its funding.
The former Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutor pointed to a recent Standard poll that showed Reform on 20 per cent in the contest to replace Lord Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London, behind Labour on 33 per cent.
Conservative MP James Cleverly quit his shadow cabinet role last week in a bid to be selected as his party’s candidate to run City Hall.
Asked about the threat posed by Reform UK, he told the Standard: “It’s very clear that the fight is between the Conservatives and Labour. I’m not going to spend my time obsessing about a party that has zero chance of winning the mayoralty.”
But Ms Cunningham hit back suggesting that Mr Cleverly had only experienced the capital through a “ministerial car” and branded the former Foreign Secretary part of the “establishment”.
Laila Cunningham at the Reform UK conference in BirminghamES
She told the Standard: “I don’t understand what he’s talking about. I think the Tories have tried and failed many times to win the mayorship.
“It’s interesting because your recent poll showed that we went from 13 per cent to 20 per cent. We frog leaped the Tories.
“I was the only Reform person in London last year. There was no one else. So in a year we’ve built this machinery.
“They’ve had what, hundreds of years in London. We’re new and we’re just getting started.
“And it’s interesting because if he does run, it’ll be Sir Sadiq and Sir Cleverly versus a Londoner.
“If ever you had an establishment versus the average person running to save our city.
“Unlike Sadiq Khan or cleverly, I didn’t experience London through a ministerial car or an armoured Range Rover.
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“I experienced it like everyone else. I was prosecuting criminals, I was dealing with victims. I was a victim of crime… But Londoners deserve a good contest. May the best man or a woman win.”
The second day of Reform’s conference in Birmingham has been overshadowed by news the party is facing a police investigation over allegations it breached political donation rules by having polling paid for by an overseas company.
As Reform chiefs sought to get a grip on the situation, two top officials – Mr Farage’s head of press Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr – stepped down from their roles pending the outcome of an investigation by the party into the broadcast by Channel 4 News alleging it breached political donation rules.
Mr Farage’s party took funding from a “US firm” for three polls it commissioned earlier this year costing £32,500, Channel 4 News reported on Thursday night.
The purported donors were actually undercover reporters from investigative group Verbatim posing as an American financier and his UK-based son.
Reform UK Leader Nigel FarageAFP/Getty
Foreign companies are not allowed to provide funding for UK parties, including for payments for studies and research, under electoral law.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have called for Scotland Yard to investigate the claims.
Asked about the scandal and whether it meant Londoners could not trust Reform or where its funding comes from, Ms Cunningham said: “We have a separate campaign to the national campaign.
“But we recognise that there is an investigation, so I can’t really comment on it.
“All our funding for the London mayoral campaign is actually a different funding account to the national, it’s pretty traceable.”
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