Boris Johnson's former deputy mayor rejects claims Tories are 'too old and white' to win in London

Boris Johnson’s former deputy mayor today criticised proposals to select younger and more ethnically diverse Tory candidates for next May’s local elections.

Stephen Greenhalgh, who was deputy for policing, rejected Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson’s suggestion the party was “too old and white” to win in London. He described as “balls!” the idea that only politicians with “a certain skin colour” or age could represent the capital’s diverse communities.

His comments come as senior Conservatives in London are saying they risk long-term decline in London.

Mr Greenhalgh, previously leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council, wrote on the Conservative Home website: “I worry at the number of leading Conservative politicians including Davidson who believe in the Leftist concept of representation. The idea that you need to be a certain skin colour, gender, age, or sexual orientation to represent the community. What balls!

“Conservatives should be meritocrats who are passionate about opportunity for all. We believe in the hand up. It is the Left who believe in the hand out. Our candidates need to be local people who want to serve their local areas rather than themselves.”

He added: “We should reject the idea that politics is about representation or that you need the young to attract the youth vote. Jeremy Corbyn has showed us that, for goodness’ sake.

“Nor do I think we will beat Sadiq Khan by matching him up against another son of a Muslim bus driver who happens to be Conservative. London’s voters are more savvy than that.”

It follows an article last week by Ms Davidson in the Standard which said that the party was too “old and white” to win over London voters and urged Tories in the capital to copy her by showing “real differentiation” from the national party.

London MEP Syed Kamall, tipped as a future Tory mayoral candidate and a son of a Muslim bus driver, has also warned that the party could be left with no safe seats in London if it failed to modernise.

Mr Greenhalgh agreed that London Tories needed to develop their own identity, but suggested this should be done at a local level.