𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Sir James Cleverly is quitting the Conservative shadow cabinet so he can run for Mayor of London. The MP for Braintree is leaving his role as shadow minister for housing, communities and local government, immediately, The Times reports. He will be the Conservative candidate to replace Sir Sadiq Khan as London mayor.

It is not known who will replace him in the shadow cabinet. The former foreign secretary and Braintree MP said the capital needed “a champion, someone who understands its potential and is prepared to fight for its future”.

In an op-ed for the Sunday Times, he wrote: “I have told Kemi Badenoch that I will leave the shadow cabinet. Serving there has been a privilege, and I know there will continue to be strong voices around that table.

“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.”

Posting on X (formerly Twitter) following the announcement, Cleverly wrote: “London needs more than an administrator.

“It needs a champion, someone who understands its potential and is prepared to fight for its future. That’s why I’m running to be the Conservative Candidate for London Mayor.”

A source close to Badenoch said that she was “gutted” to lose Cleverly.

They added: “Kemi is delighted that someone of his calibre wants to put himself forward to be Conservative nominee for mayor of London.

“She really wants someone to take on Sadiq Khan, as he is destroying the London she loves.”

Badenoch cannot yet endorse Cleverly to be Conservative candidate. He will have to win the Conservative Party’s nomination for the mayoral election.

Londoners are not due to head to the polls to choose their next mayor until 2028, while Sir Sadiq Khan, has yet to say whether he plans to stand for a historic fourth term.

Cleverly reportedly decided that he needed to make his position clear before the Conservative Party’s annual conference in October.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS STORY AND IS BEING UPDATED.