By: Noah Vickers
AN INDEPENDENT mayoral candidate has promised to “bring back the smile” to Londoners’ faces, arguing that the capital has “lost its mojo”.
Investment banker Tarun Ghulati said he was entering the race in order to “get London moving again”, while strengthening community cohesion and improving policing.
Ghulati, who lives in St John’s Wood, north London, said he was concerned by the number of police stations which had closed in the capital in recent years. He would seek to re-open them in areas of the city with high crime rates, he added.
On transport, Ghulati said he wanted to scrap the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez), remove the congestion charge on weekends as well as abolish low traffic neighbourhoods.
He said the Ulez was unfair because wealthy Londoners could easily afford the £12.50 daily charge for non-compliant vehicles, while those on lower incomes were deterred from using their cars.
Ghulati, who was born in India and has lived in London for more than 20 years, said: “I come from a country where toxic air is a big issue and I believe we should work towards making things greener and more effective.”
He said he also wanted to tackle inequality in the capital, including by pursuing a “levelling up” agenda for London and lobbying the government to remove the two-child benefit cap.
In addition, he pledged to build more affordable homes and champion London globally.
“I’m very keen to make sure that I bring the smiles on the faces of all Londoners – that’s my key mantra,” he said.
“People, by and large, if you don’t do anything for them, they are not bothered. Communities have become insular, they’re broken. I want to bring back the cohesiveness,” said Ghulati.
In addition to Labour mayor Sadiq Khan and the Conservative party’s Susan Hall, other candidates include the Green Party’s Zoë Garbett, the Liberal Democrats’ Rob Blackie and Reform UK’s Howard Cox.
The election will take place on May 2, along with elections to the London Assembly. (Local Democracy Reporting Service)
