It’s never been more important to keep London Labour

The next London mayoral and assembly election is on May 7th – now just over four months away. It’s going to be a tough, two-horse race between me and the Tory candidate. The Tories in London are feeling confident and seeking to capitalise on their general election win.

It’s up to us to stop them. The devastating reality that London will now endure five more years of hard-right Tory rule means that it is more important than ever that Londoners have a Labour mayor standing up for them and defending London’s values.

That’s why we’re hitting the ground running with our campaign at the start of this year. Today, we’re campaigning across London to coincide with the start of the fourth year of my Transport for London fares freeze, which is saving families over £200. This is in stark contrast to the 42% increase in fares under my Tory predecessor Boris Johnson.

We’re also reminding Londoners of the many other ways Labour has made transport more affordable, more accessible and greener since 2016. This includes:

• Introducing the Hopper bus fare, which has already made 450 million journeys more affordable for Londoners;
• Opening the night tube and night overground;
• Reducing strike days on the tube by over 65% by engaging with unions;
• Doubling cycling investment;
• Launching the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone, which has already helped to reduce air pollution in central London by a third.

As well as celebrating our past successes during the election campaign, I will be setting out my plans for the future and how we will continue to improve people’s lives in the years ahead.

That’s why I’m pleased to announce today – in my first policy pledge for a second term Labour administration at City Hall – that we will help disabled Londoners get around our city more easily if re-elected in May. We will introduce a new ‘companion pass’ for disabled Londoners who need someone, such as a carer, to be able to travel with them for free.

This builds on the work we have done in my first term, investing record sums in making our public transport more accessible to disabled Londoners with more step-free stations than ever before while freezing TfL fares.

My job as mayor is to stand up for Londoners, and I’m more determined than ever to ensure everyone in our city can access our fantastic transport network by making it inclusive and affordable for all.

With just 16 weeks to go until election day on May 7th, I encourage you to join us on the campaign trail over the weeks ahead. It’s never been more important to keep London Labour, so that we can continue to stand up for London and for our values.