James Cleverly electrifies London mayor race as he quits shadow cabinet to run as Tory candidate for City Hall

Sir James Cleverly has announced he is resigning from the shadow cabinet to stand to be Mayor of London .

The Tory MP for Braintree and former Home Secretary has put himself forward to be the Conservative candidate to run City Hall.

Sir James, who has also been Foreign Secretary, said the capital needed “a champion, someone who understands its potential and is prepared to fight for its future”.

Speculation had rumbled for months that Sir James, 56, who held the shadow housing, communities and local government brief since last July, was planning a bid for City Hall.

He said: “Andy Burnham treats London as a cash cow: somewhere to be taxed, regulated, raided and blamed.Under Sadiq Khan’s Mayorship London’s reputation has been allowed to slip, at home and abroad, while too many of its problems have been left to fester.

“I’m a Londoner who cut my teeth in business and politics here so I know that Londoners are crying out for a Mayor who will take the lead out of the saddle, the rocks out of the rucksack and the drag anchor off our economy and let Londoners succeed.I’m ready to kill the lazy narrative that London is a Labour city.”

He has said serving in the shadow cabinet “has been a privilege..but to run the most effective campaign possible, I must be free to speak about every aspect of London’s future and concentrate fully on winning this race.”

He will have to compete with possible other contenders and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has previously appealed for a wide field of candidates to come forward.

Festus Akinbusoye, a current Tory Westminster councillor and former Police and Crime Commissioner, is expected to announce his candidacy in the coming weeks.

Olympian and former MP Lord Sebastian Coe has also been suggested as a potential contender.

But Sir James will be the immediate frontrunner, despite a poll earlier this month suggesting the Tory London mayor candidate must have no link to the previous Conservative government.

In an excluisve interview with the Standard earlier this year, Ms Badenoch aid out three key criteria for the type of candidate that she is seeking for City Hall which are expertise and a track record on business, public order and life experience.

Sir James appears to tick all three boxes given he has served as Home Secretary, co-founded his own company and served in the army.

Sir James has announced his bid just days after a shock poll revealed Reform were in pole position to challenge Labour in the next contest set to take place in 2028.