"National" Event

[Sir Dylan Macmillan]

For the London-wide event

[Emily Greenwood]

John McDonnell and Emily Greenwood went canvassing with local candidates in London before attending a closing rally. After being introduced by Greenwood, John McDonnell gave the following speech:

Friends,

This election gives us an opportunity to turn a new leaf for London.

As Mayor, Sadiq Khan has made great progress. Whether it’s the establishment of the ‘hopper’ fare, launching the Homes for Londoners scheme, creating a taskforce to tackle youth homelessness or taking strong action to tackle pollution in London, we have a lot to thank him for in making London cleaner, greener and more prosperous.

But too many people in London cannot afford for us to be timid or to take small steps.

Our message in 2017 that we needed to create an economy for the many, not the few, resonated across the country. But It resonated most in London. As someone who has fought for Londoners my whole political career, serving them in the GLC and then as a constituency Member of Parliament, I know why: because London is the starkest example of the inequality and injustice that festers across Britain.

While home ownership is now a fantasy except for the richest, Saudi oil barons and Russian oligarchs scoop up mounds of property and use London as their playground, as a haven for their dark money. London sees some of the most prosperous areas in the country, but down the road more than half of children in certain boroughs can live in extreme property. Billions is made in the city while the climate crisis makes London’s air unbreathable and too many of our homes are unfit for human habitation.

That is what Grenfell summarised for many in this city and the nation. In Kensington, where some of the richest people in the world lived, because of cost cutting, deregulation and inequality we watched as homes needlessly burned and lives were needlessly taken.

Some may make out that I am a polarising candidate. But London is already polarised after a decade of Tory governance in Westminster.

Some will say I am not a pragmatic candidate compared to the Tory one – but what is pragmatic about a London which serves 1% of Londoners, with mililions of others missing out and unable to share or contribute to London’s immense wealth, power and status?

I am the only Mayor who can take on the Tories in Westminster, fight for a fair deal for every Londoner and ensure our city gets the fair deal it deserves. London is the best city in the world – it needs a Mayor that will fight for it and invest in it.

While Justine Greening voted for cuts to London’s public services, communities and individuals which led to increased poverty and knife crime, I led the charge against austerity.

While Justine Greening was tight lipped on the government’s disastrous Heathwick proposals, I fought them with the passion I fought against disastrous Heathrow expansion – which would continue to pollute and blight London.

And while Justine Greening would put the Conservative Party’s interests in Westminster first, I am clear I will put Londoners first.

I’ve done it in London before, and I will do it again.

That’s why I’ll be fighting for unprecedented investment into London’s housing, so we can finally lay the foundations to get to grips with London’s housing crisis.

That’s why I’ll fight for further tax powers from Westminster – where the Tories dither, we will tax the immensely wealthy and ensure we can invest in TFL, in housing and in green initiatives, so London can work for the many and not the few.

We’ll introduce community policing initiatives as part of a wider knife crime strategy to deal with the rising wave of knife crime this Tory government has allowed to fester across Britain.

And we’ll continue the necessary work to make London’s air clean.

At the heart of our agenda, we understand what Justine Greening and the Westminster Tories never will: that London is made great not by oligarchs, not by venture capitalists and not by big banks, but it is made great by open, tolerant and aspirational Londoners. They will be at the centre of our agenda – and agenda where every community counts, and we can build an economy that works for the many and not the few.

London has the chance to show not just Britain, but the world, that a better world is possible. A vote for me on the 7th May is a vote for London to lead the way as it always has done.

Thank you.

[Grant Kingston]

Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader, Grant Kingston, walks on stage accompanied by Conservative London Mayoral candidate, Justine Greening, to speak with the crowd gathered.

Thank you all for joining us here today! It is a great pleasure to speak, and meet with you all today. I am honoured to be joined by the Conservative candidate for the London Mayoral Election, Justine Greening, who I wholeheartedly endorse as the best candidate in the upcoming election. In her fifteen years as an MP, Justine has worked tirelessly to help her constituents in Putney, as well as her work as a Shadow London Minister, in the Treasury, the Department for Transport, the Department for International Trade, as Women and Equalities Minister, and the Department for Education. Her track record speaks for itself, and I am proud to stand with her in support today, and implore you all to do the same on this upcoming Election Day.

So what will Justine do for you? Well let’s start by looking at public services, where Justine has promised to provide world class public services for everyone throughout London. She will provide better funding and improvement in schools and healthcare throughout the city, as well as building 200,000 new houses to tackle the current housing shortage. Justine has promised to make London the best city in the world to live in once again, and I believe she is the person to do it!

One of my main messages as the new Prime Minister is unity, and this message is supported in Justine’s pledge to community and inclusivity. I cannot support this message enough. London has always been a melting pot of cultures, and people from all backgrounds, united under one common trait, being Londoners. The Conservative Party has long backed the traditions of togetherness and community, and Justine is no different. Remember the spirit of community when London hosted the 2012 Olympics, let’s get back to that. Let’s get back to working together for a better London, and with Justine as Mayor, she will promote that philosophy with utmost importance. Justine has promised to make London a diverse and inclusive city to live in, and as our nation's great capital, I believe she can make London a reflection of our nation and what makes it great - community, diversity, and inclusivity.

In relation to this, Justine has promised to increase spending in policing in London, and is dedicated to challenging rising crime, with crime prevention programmes, and neighbourhood watch schemes. As part of the community spirit, Justine will ensure Londoners are safe in their city.

With support from the British Government, Justine has promised to improve the infrastructure of London, providing better city infrastructure, as well as better links to the rest of the UK. On top of this, Justine is dedicated to keeping the city transport running at 365 days, 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week - as well as keeping you all connected during this time with 4G/5G connections on all tube platforms.

In contrast, what will Labour and John McDonnell offer London? I can tell you it will be more of the same that you have seen under Sadiq Khan for the past four years. It will be more blaming the Government and not taking action, while the city fails in health, in education, in addressing the housing crisis, in policing and addressing growing crime, in transport. Is this the London you want to live in? A London that's services fall flat? Where you are not safe? Where you can’t get a place to fall home? Labour has used London as a political opportunity to attack the British Government, instead of helping it become a better place to live. John McDonell will only continue this, his own track record speaks for itself, and speaks poorly. I say that London deserves better, you deserve better!

This Election Day I ask all of you to support Justine Greening as the next London Mayor. Under her leadership you will have a Mayor who takes action, improves health, education and policing services, addresses the ongoing housing crisis, rising crime, and transport throughout the city. As well as that I have total faith that Justine can reignite the flame of the old London, and the old London community spirit, and create a community of diversity, inclusivity, and a shining example to the world of what a city should be!

This Election Day, vote Justine Greening!