Nigel Farage has announced Laila Cunningham as Reform UK’s candidate for the 2028 London mayoral election, with the Westminster councillor pledging to launch an “all-out war on crime” if elected.
The announcement took place at a press conference in central London on January 7, with banners reading “London needs Reform.” Ms Cunningham, a former senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor and mother of seven, serves as councillor for Lancaster Gate ward.
Mr Farage described May’s elections as the single most significant electoral test ahead of the next general election, calling Ms Cunningham the figurehead for Reform’s London campaign. “She has given up a very successful, well-paid job to do this full time,” he stated.
Ms Cunningham, whose parents immigrated to the UK from Egypt in the 1960s, entered politics as a Conservative councillor in Westminster in 2022. She defected to Reform UK in June 2025, becoming the first Reform representative on a London borough council.
Upon defecting, she advocated for lower taxes, controlled borders and putting Britain first. Her defection led to resignation from the CPS after politically charged comments potentially violated Civil Service code of conduct on impartiality. The CPS accepted her resignation following comments published in The Standard newspaper.
At the press conference, Ms Cunningham pledged: “There will be a new sheriff in town, and I’ll be launching an all-out war on crime.” She outlined Metropolitan Police priorities including tackling knife crime, drugs, robbery, shoplifting and rape, promising to task police with targeting, hunting and prosecuting rape gangs in London.
Ms Cunningham vowed to rewrite the London police and crime plan and issue “new marching orders” to the Metropolitan Police to “tackle crime that matters.” She attributed Met policing issues to priorities rather than recruitment.
Reflecting on what she called “glory days,” she recalled: “When I was growing up, I wasn’t scared to walk down the streets. I knew my local bobby. In fact, when I was growing up, my local teacher lived next to me. Now she can’t afford it. My local bobby lived next to me; now he can’t afford it.”
Ms Cunningham committed to scrapping the Ultra Low Emission Zone if elected, calling it a war on motorists. On the congestion charge, she said: “You will have to wait and find out.” She also proposed automating parts of the London Underground to reduce union influence.
She criticized Labour and Conservatives for failing on crime, national debt and net zero policies. Speaking to The I, she stated: “There are no safe parts” of London, dismissing Crime Survey for England and Wales statistics on reduced violent crime as “insulting.”
A source close to London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan responded: “After winning with a historic landslide victory in May 2024, his third, Sadiq is getting on with the job of delivering a fairer, safer, greener city for every Londoners. Sadiq has delivered 100 million free school meals for state primary school kids in the capital, helping families with the cost of living. The number of homicides in London are at a record low, he’s built a record number of council homes and Sadiq’s policies have cut harmful air pollution in the capital by 27%.”
In August 2025, Ms Cunningham helped launch Women for Reform with Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Sarah Pochin MP and Linden Kemkaran. She broke from the Conservatives over grooming gangs, criticizing Kemi Badenoch and Tory inaction. Ms Cunningham met Mr Farage around her defection, solidifying her Reform move due to rising taxes.
Mr Farage plans to announce Reform UK’s leader in Scotland at an Edinburgh press conference next Thursday. The party’s situation for a separate leader in Wales remains a “work in progress.”
