Sadiq Khan unveils climate plan as one in three backers consider voting Green

Sadiq Khan has unveiled a new ten-point climate action plan for London if he is reelected as the city’s mayor – as polling suggests more than one in three of his supporters are likely to consider voting for the Green candidate.

On a visit to a north London school today, the London mayor warned that clean air and London’s commitment to reaching net zero “are on the ballot paper” in the mayoral election on May 2nd and declared that “only voting Labour in London will keep green politics alive”.

But, according to new polling from Savanta on behalf of the Centre for London, 37% of those who say they are voting for the current mayor say they are likely to consider voting for the Green candidate Zoë Garbett – including almost half (47%) of Khan’s younger voters.

The polling does suggest Khan continues to hold a commanding lead over the Tory candidate Susan Hall, however, with the London mayor on 50% of the vote ahead of his closest rival on 26%.

On the visit today, Khan accused Hall of being a “proud anti-green candidate”, adding: “I want to make a plea to all Londoners who care about tackling air pollution and our precious environment to take this election seriously.

“You only have to look at what the Tories have done filling our waterways with sewage to see what they would do to air quality in the capital.”

Khan – who was accompanied by Shadow Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband – added: “I’m proud of what we’ve done in London to tackle air pollution and the climate crisis. It’s not been easy – I’ve faced resistance and pressure from many quarters.

“But it was the right thing to do and has proven to be very effective, with roadside nitrogen dioxide pollution cut in half across London and saved hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions.

“But I’m determined to go even further with a new ten-point climate action plan for our city, which includes exciting new initiatives like putting solar panels on school roofs across our city.”

The mayor’s climate action plan also includes delivering a 100% zero-emission bus fleet in London by 2030, putting air pollution filters in primary schools and increasing the number of electric vehicle charging points in the capital by more than double to 40,000 by 2030.

A spokesperson for Hall told The Guardian: “Susan believes in a fair and practical transition to net zero, while Sadiq Khan believes in hitting motorists in the pocket with ULEZ and pay-per-mile taxes. Susan will scrap Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion and pay-per-mile plans on her first day as mayor.”

Khan has repeatedly and strongly denied plans for a pay-per-mile scheme since at least last year.

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