Laila Cunningham is the newly appointed Reform UK mayoral candidate for the 2028 London Mayor Elections. Yet, many Londoners do not know who she is.
She has been mentioned in the press this week for her comments about stop and search for women who wear the Burqa, as well as her proposition to scrap ULEZ if she were mayor.
Yesterday (21/01) she took to social media to criticise The Mirror over a story about her mother which Cunningham called “politically motivated”. She described the article as a “political witch hunt by a far-left outlet scraping the barrel”.
As a guest columnist this week in The Daily Express, she called London “a byword for chaos and criminality” under the current Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Reform currently polls second in London. Nigel Farage described the upcoming May council elections as the “single most significant” electoral test ahead of the next general election scheduled for 2029. Cunningham will act as “the figurehead” of these local elections.
Who is Cunningham?
Cunningham is a Londoner. She grew up in Kilburn in the 1970s, raised by Egyptian parents who moved to the UK in the previous decade. Before entering politics, she was a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
She first stood for Queen’s Park Ward, in 2018, as a Conservative councillor, but was beaten to the seat by Labour. In 2022 she was elected to elected to Westminster City Council as a Conservative councillor. Last June, she defected to Reform UK.
What do the experts say?
“It will be interesting to see if she can hold her seat in May” – Dr Eoghan Kelly, The Mile End Institute.
Political analyst, Dr Eoghan Kelly, from The Mile End Institute and Queen Mary University, London, and Queen’s University Belfast, is a researcher of elections and public opinion in the UK and Ireland.
He said Reform are likely to gain seats in “outer London areas” like the boarder of Kent and Essex.
In terms of Cunningham’s own success in the upcoming local elections, he says Cunningham is “unlikely” to win her seat as a Reform politician.
“It will be interesting to see if she can hold her seat in May; she topped the poll under the conservatives. Whether reform can win a seat in Westminster is very debatable as it doesn’t fit their demographics.”
“If they’re going to soak up those votes they’d need Labour and the Tories to split quite badly, which is possible and her name recognition would carry her through.”.
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HeadlineCity Explained: Who is Laila Cunningham?
Short HeadlineWho is Laila Cunningham?
StandfirstCity explains Reform UK's London Mayoral candidate
Laila Cunningham is the newly appointed Reform UK mayoral candidate for the 2028 London Mayor Elections. Yet, many Londoners do not know who she is.
She has been mentioned in the press this week for her comments about stop and search for women who wear the Burqa, as well as her proposition to scrap ULEZ if she were mayor.
Yesterday (21/01) she took to social media to criticise The Mirror over a story about her mother which Cunningham called “politically motivated”. She described the article as a “political witch hunt by a far-left outlet scraping the barrel”.
As a guest columnist this week in The Daily Express, she called London “a byword for chaos and criminality” under the current Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Reform currently polls second in London. Nigel Farage described the upcoming May council elections as the “single most significant” electoral test ahead of the next general election scheduled for 2029. Cunningham will act as “the figurehead” of these local elections.
Who is Cunningham?
Cunningham is a Londoner. She grew up in Kilburn in the 1970s, raised by Egyptian parents who moved to the UK in the previous decade. Before entering politics, she was a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
She first stood for Queen’s Park Ward, in 2018, as a Conservative councillor, but was beaten to the seat by Labour. In 2022 she was elected to elected to Westminster City Council as a Conservative councillor. Last June, she defected to Reform UK.
What do the experts say?
“It will be interesting to see if she can hold her seat in May” – Dr Eoghan Kelly, The Mile End Institute.
Political analyst, Dr Eoghan Kelly, from The Mile End Institute and Queen Mary University, London, and Queen’s University Belfast, is a researcher of elections and public opinion in the UK and Ireland.
He said Reform are likely to gain seats in “outer London areas” like the boarder of Kent and Essex.
In terms of Cunningham’s own success in the upcoming local elections, he says Cunningham is “unlikely” to win her seat as a Reform politician.
“It will be interesting to see if she can hold her seat in May; she topped the poll under the conservatives. Whether reform can win a seat in Westminster is very debatable as it doesn’t fit their demographics.”
“If they’re going to soak up those votes they’d need Labour and the Tories to split quite badly, which is possible and her name recognition would carry her through.”.
