Cllr Luisa Porritt selected as Lib Dem Mayor of London candidate

Camden councillor and former MEP has been voted by party members to be the party’s new candidate for Mayor of London:

On being selected she said:

I love London – it’s where I grew up and it has given me so much. But existing challenges of rising costs and climate change alongside the impact of Covid-19 mean that this is a crucial moment for London.

The pandemic will change our city forever. We need big ideas and urgent action to rise to the challenge.

I will show what a liberal London can be like – where the 600 neighbourhoods that make up our capital lead the way.

From putting homes in the heart of the city to reinventing high streets for the future, we can renew every area in London to become thriving, green, and affordable places to live and work.

Londoners are anxious about the present and uncertain about what life in London will look like in years to come.

As a lifelong Londoner, I know our capital is resilient. With the right leadership, creativity and vision, we can reinvent our city for the better. If we bring London together, anything is possible.

The Evening Standard reports:

The new Lib-Dem mayoral candidate today vowed to put London’s economic recovery from the pandemic at the heart of her bid for City Hall.

Luisa Porritt, a 33-year-old yoga enthusiast and former MEP, said she would speak for “millennial Londoners” as she name-checked New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland.

“The time is right for a fresh perspective,” she told the Standard in her first interview since being selected by London party members. “There are women, and younger women, who are doing a fantastic job in response to this crisis. I think it’s time London had the same.”

Result details:

Luisa Porritt – 3,722 votes
Re-open nominations – 514 votes
Abstain – 108 votes
Turnout – 19.1%

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