Laurence Fox joins London mayoral race on anti-lockdown ticket

Laurence Fox, the actor and controversial political activist, has made a late entry to the race for mayor of London with a campaign calling for an immediate end to lockdown and pledging to “offer a voice to those who are being dominated into silence”.

The leader of the Reclaim party is being reportedly funded solely by former Tory donor Jeremy Hosking . In the announcement accompanying his entry, Fox hit out at “extreme political correctness”, as he criticised the taking down of statues of figures he considers integral to Britain’s history.

He told the Telegraph: “With almost all older and vulnerable people having got their jab, I want the lockdown lifted straight away. The government has said vaccines are working, hospitalisations and deaths are tumbling, but we are still being told we won’t be able to resume normal life until mid-summer at the earliest.

“Both the main parties are competing in this dreary race to be the last to set the country free … I want London – and indeed the rest of the country – to be allowed to get back to work and play immediately – not by late June.”

Writing in the paper, he said: “I am livid at the disrespect being shown to the sacrifices made by previous generations to protect our values, tolerance and freedom. This extreme political correctness must be resisted … I look forward to speaking up for those who are being dominated into silence.”

Related: Laurence Fox launching political party to 'reclaim' British values

Appearing on Question Time last year, Fox insisted the media coverage of the Duchess of Sussex was not rooted in racism, labelling the allegations about her treatment as “boring”.

The former star of the detective drama Lewis then said it was “racist” for an audience member to call him “a white, privileged male”. Later that month, Fox said it was “odd” to show a Sikh soldier in the first world war film 1917.

Fox joins a motley cast of candidates including fellow lockdown sceptics Piers Corbyn and Brian Rose, the former Wall Street banker and host of YouTube channel London Real, which famously aired a controversial interview with conspiracy theorist David Icke early in the pandemic.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan is expected to be re-elected after serving an extra year in office unelected because of the pandemic. Tory Shaun Bailey, Green party Cllr Siân Berry and Liberal Democrat Cllr Luisa Porritt are also in the race.