Susan Hall's radical right message is so dangerous -vote for Sadiq Khan as London Mayor

If there were a movie of Susan Hall’s life, there would be only one title. ‘Susan – Desperately Seeking Attention’.

Since day one of the London Mayoral campaign, the Conservative candidate has only had one aim – to get her dangerously divisive views aired to as many Londoners as possible. Like a farmer spreading muck and hoping something will grow.

When Hall lost her wallet on the train, she bizarrely claimed she had been pickpocketed and linked it to ‘rising crime’ on the Underground. Another example, her supporters said, of ‘Sadiq Khan’s London’.

In fact, a Good Samaritan, Ajiz Andani, had found it stuck between two seats. After he and his wife found a Freedom Pass and some money inside, they discovered a business card and returned it to Hall. A perfect example, in fact of ‘Sadiq Khan’s London’.

At the outset of her campaign, James Johnson, a former Downing Street pollster who worked under Theresa May, warned that Ms Hall “would be a fine candidate but she would be a dull one”. He was wrong on both counts. Hall realised that by allying herself with the most unpleasant mobs on social media, she could buoy up her losers’ campaign with online bile.

Not least, her willingness to exploit anti-ULEZ groups set up by Conservative campaigners – despite investigations finding them to be full of Islamophobic hate speech, conspiracy theories and abuse. An investigation by Greenpeace UK’s Unearthed found that some of the groups included celebrations of vandalism and comments expressing disbelief that Khan had not been “taken out”, posing a threat to his safety and the security of his family and staff.

In previous years, this sort of campaign would have been more associated with those run by UKIP or even Britain First or the BNP than the Conservatives. But the party of Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch and Liz Truss is not what it once was. In recent days Ms Hall has been forced to defend ‘liking’ a post which called Mr Khan a “traitor rat” and sharing another that referred to him as the Mayor of “Londonistan”. While in one of her more blatant dog-whistles, she claimed London’s Jewish community was “frightened” by Sadiq Khan.

An enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump, she tweeted: “Make sure you win and wipe the smile off [Sadiq Khan's] face”. And even compared those who stormed the Capitol in support of Trump to ‘Remainers’ refusing to accept the result of the Brexit referendum. All of which is a chilling reminder that Trump himself once seemed a ridiculous caricature that no one would ever actually elect to public office. A bit like former Mayor of London – and later UK Prime Minister – Boris Johnson.

Like them, Hall has said she firmly believes she can deliver the “political shock” of defeating Labour. Hall, who runs a hair salon with her hairdresser husband, chose to launch her Mayoral Campaign at the Battle of Britain bunker with a spitfire in the background. But really it seems she has forgotten which side the Battle of Britain pilots were on.

This is a woman who once ‘liked’ a post which had an image of Enoch Powell and the words “It’s never too late to get London back” – this week prompting LBC’s Nick Ferrari to challenge her over her apparent admiration for politician known for the political slogan ‘Rivers of Blood’.

It used to be that she was just mean on Twitter – tweeting that Gemma Collins was a "stupid, fat blonde woman" back when she was a London assembly member. The Tory candidate calls Twitter her ‘hobby’, but her hobby is really her obsession with Sadiq Khan.

Susan Hall has said she is the ‘one who Sadiq fears’. But it’s not in the way she means. Sadiq Khan has said she is the “most dangerous candidate” he has fought against. This from a Labour candidate who has fought in three council elections, three parliamentary elections and three mayoral elections.

He says it because he knows that, once out of the bottle, hatred doesn’t willingly climb back in. As a Londoner, it’s easy to take London for granted. All of my life, it has welcomed all those seeking tolerance in return for giving it – from barrow boys to drag queens, refugees to entrepreneurs, or all of the above.

As former (Conservative) Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli once said – “London is a roost for every bird.” Our skyline speaks of our inhabitants – cathedrals, gurdwaras, synagogues, mosques, local authority towerblocks, Royal Parks, slick glass skyscrapers, crumbling hospitals, old pubs, neo-classical theatres, pie and mash shops, Big Ben.

Unlike many capital cities, despite gentrification and skyrocketing rents, our communities remain stubbornly mixed – even slick towers of the City are interrupted by concrete estates. It’s the city of Shakespeare and Kae Tempest, Dickens and Stormzy, Blitz Spirit and Aperol Spritz.

If all of this seems to be threaded together by a kind of magic – it’s a magic we all create. It relies on the goodwill of Londoners. And it relies on London’s idea of itself. That’s why Susan Hall’s radical right message is so dangerous. The mayoral election is a choice between being the diverse and welcoming London we saw at the 2012 Olympics, or the one after the Brexit referendum, where our fabric was tearing at the seams.

This is why Labour’s message in the London Mayoral election is the right one. “If you love London,” Sadiq Khan’s slogan says. “Vote for it.” And vote for Sadiq Khan.