Susan Hall: We could see a Conservative revival in London this year

Susan Hall is a member of the London Assembly, a councillor in Harrow and a former Conservative candidate for Mayor of London

In just under 100 days, millions of Londoners will drop into polling stations in schools, halls, and civic centres across our city to cast their votes for their ward councillors, and in some cases their borough Mayor. Many will have already filled in and sent off their postal ballots. Hundreds, if not thousands, of brave Conservatives are standing to represent their homes and streets against parties of all stripes and colours, and all will find out in the small hours of the morning how successful they have been. Whether it’s their first time, their tenth time – whether they’re defending their seat, or striving to win a new one – I know personally what a challenge it can be, but also how big the reward is. To those colleagues, I say: do not lose faith.

We all have a part to play as we enter the last stretch of track to councils and townhalls across London. As I write this, I know many Conservatives across London will be out delivering leaflets until their hands are blistered and cut to the bone, in the cold and the dark, trying to complete just one more street, one more estate, one more map. They’ll be knocking on doors, just as I do, and talking to voters about the issues that hardworking Londoners are facing every day when they step outside of their front door. Some will be organising mutual aid for Conservatives just across the council boundaries from them; others will be organising the fundraisers that pay for leaflets and adverts, and which keep the lights on at associations.

Many in the media have written off the Conservatives – they want to talk about other parties, breakthrough parties, exciting flash-in-the-pan parties. But beneath their noses, there is a different story unfolding in London: one of a Conservative success, where the work that Conservatives in councils, City Hall, and Parliament, as well as activists along the way, have put in the effort that is now beginning to show signs of paying dividends. We must defend the Conservative councils that do such a fantastic job of showing up their Labour counterparts by running fiscally-responsible, common-sense-oriented agendas. We must regain councils like Westminster and Wandsworth before Labour can do any more damage than they have already achieved in the short time they’ve been running them. We must advance in streets, wards, and councils where Labour’s monolithic vote is shattering like a glass vase into fragments of disillusioned voters who want and deserve better than the contempt with which the so-called “party of workers” has held them in.

But we can only achieve these results with a concerted team effort. If you haven’t already, do think about getting in touch with your association to ask how you can help. Whether it’s as a candidate, or knocking doors, or even telephone canvasing – more Conservatives covering more ground is going to be the difference between a win and a loss in so many wards across our city, and those wins and losses compound into bigger results that will form that final picture of what London will look like on the morning of the eighth of May. Even just a few hours of your time will mean the world to candidates battling through wind and rain to meet voters, and will go a long way to helping the Conservative fightback in London turn into the Conservative victory.

In my Mayoral campaign, I met so many wonderful volunteers across London who gave everything to help get me over the line. I saw firsthand how dedicated so many Conservatives in London were, and how close it got us to winning City Hall. We have a chance now to build on that, and go further – so please, if you can, get out to help. Your local Conservative Association needs you, and now is the time to send Labour, the Lib Dems, Greens, Reform, and independents a message that we are not finished in London – we’re only just getting started.