Poll shows Tory London mayor contender Susan Hall close to Sadiq Khan

Poll shows Tory London mayor contender Susan Hall just three points behind Sadiq Khan after ULEZ fury

The battle to be mayor of London looks to be on a knife edge in the wake of Sadiq Khan’s controversial ULEZ expansion.

Tory hopeful Susan Hall is just three points behind the Labour incumbent, according to a poll by JL Partners.

The 35 per cent to 32 per cent gap is a boost for Ms Hall following fears that the contest in the capital could be a rout.

It suggests that anger at widening the £12.50-a-day charge to the whole of London – credited for the Conservatives unexpectedly hanging on in the Uxbridge & South Ruislip by-election – is lingering.

The London Mayor contest is being conducted under a first-past-the-post electoral system – the same used for Westminster – for the first time after the government passed new laws. 

Tory hopeful Susan Hall is just three points behind the Labour incumbent, according to a poll by JL Partners

The contest will take place in May next year, likely to be a few months before the general election. 

Surveys before the full slate of candidates were chose had indicated that Mr Khan had a significant lead over other parties.

But Redfield & Wilton Strategies research earlier this month suggested that Mr Khan was on track for the narrowest of victories, with 33 per cent support to 32 per cent for Ms Hall.

It also highlighted the peril for Mr Khan if Jeremy Corbyn made good on hints he could join the race.

In that instance the current mayor was estimated to lose by 30 per cent to 25 per cent, with the hard-left MP getting 15 per cent.

The JL Partners poll for the Sun found that Mr Khan was on 35 per cent, Ms Hall 32 per cent, while Reform candidate Howard Cox was on 8 per cent. The Greens and Lib Dems were both on 5 per cent.  

Ms Hall risked a clash with the government over HS2 in an LBC phone-in this morning, saying she would ‘obviously prefer’ that the line went ahead in full.

She was also given a rough ride over her previous social media posts.

Ms Hall insisted she ‘can’t remember’ supporting a post by Katie Hopkins which described Mr Khan as ‘our nipple height mayor of Londonistan’.

She brushed off liking a tweet with a picture of Enoch Powell by saying: ‘If you’re a serial tweeter, you tend to go through liking all sorts of things.

‘If anybody is offended, then obviously I would apologise.’

Challenged over a tweet in which she called Gemma Collins a ‘stupid fat blonde’, Ms Hall said: ‘People will throw these tweets at me and I accept it and if I offended anybody, I apologise.’

Sadiq Khan could lose the London Mayor battle if Jeremy Corbyn runs as an independent, according to a shock poll earlier this month

Mr Corbyn has repeatedly refused to rule out a bid for the mayoralty after he was blocked by the Labour leadership from standing as the party’s candidate in his Islington North constituency

Mr Corbyn has repeatedly refused to rule out a bid for the mayoralty after he was blocked by the Labour leadership from standing as the party’s candidate in his Islington North constituency.

Mr Khan has insisted he is relaxed about whom he faces, saying he is not surprised that people want to get the ‘best job in the world’. 

The 74-year-old is still regarded as more likely to focus on defending that seat as an independent rather than turning his sights to City Hall.

The Tories declared Ms Hall would be their contender in July after a chaotic selection process that saw a minister left off the shortlist.

Many had feared that Ms Hall did not have the profile or charisma to stop Mr Khan winning a third term. 

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