London Mayor election: What have the candidates promised?

The leading candidates in the race to be the next Mayor of London have now all published their manifestos outlining their plans for the next three years.

With just over two weeks to go until Londoners head to the polls, the candidates representing Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have all detailed how they plan to address the key issues affecting London, including crime and housing.

Here is what Sadiq Khan, Shaun Bailey, Luisa Porritt and Sian Berry have pledged on the following issues:

Crime

Current mayor Sadiq Khan has said that Government cuts have made the job of the Metropolitan Police “more difficult”, and that he will push for an additional £159 million Government grant that “truly reflects the demands of policing London”.

Mr Khan has also said he will push to get an additional 6,000 police officers on the streets of London, while investing £187 million in “transforming” Met Police technology.

Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey launched his manifesto with a pledge to cut crime “in 100 days” if elected on May 6.

Mr Bailey said he would recruit an additional 8,000 Metropolitan Police officers using “savings from City Hall” as well as Home Office funding, while hiring 4,000 youth workers to prevent young people getting involved in crime.

Green Party candidate Sian Berry has said she will adopt a public health approach to crime with the aim of bringing murders in London down to zero within 10 years.

Ms Berry has pledged to “restore community policing” to allow officers to be “more locally focused” and build trust within communities.

Liberal Democrat candidate Luisa Porritt has also placed an emphasis on restoring “proper community policing”, with a pledge to double the number of dedicated ward officers across the capital and reopen local police stations.

Both Luisa Porritt and Sian Berry have pledged to decriminalise or deprioritise cannabis, while Sadiq Khan has said he would set up a Drugs Commission to examine laws around cannabis.

Housing

Sian Berry has pledged to support London’s renters by setting up a Renters Commission that will work to push private rents down and more accurately define a London Living Rent.

The Green candidate has also said she will set up a People’s Land Commission that will allow locals to have a greater say over plans for new homes and how land is used.

Luisa Porritt has said she would set up the London Housing Company, a City Hall-backed developer that would, as its first task, investigate the potential for turning disused offices into affordable homes.

Like Sian Berry, Ms Porritt has also said she would support renters and has pledged to set up a licensing scheme for private landlords while pushing for longer tenancies and an end to Section 21 evictions.

Shaun Bailey has also announced plans for a City Hall-owned developer – Housing for London – that would oversee all his plans for housing, including a plan to build 100,000 shared ownership homes available for £100,000 each.

Mr Bailey has also pledged to protect the green belt by focusing on developing brownfield sites, while banning the construction of tall buildings in parts of outer London.

Sadiq Khan has said that his “relentless focus” will be on building more genuinely affordable homes as well as 10,000 new council homes.

Mr Khan has also pledged to launch a City Hall developer to directly take control of building low-cost homes and, like Sian Berry, has pledged to support renters by pushing for rent controls in London.

Transport

All four of the leading candidates have made pledges to make London’s transport network more environmentally friendly, and all four have pledged to have a completely zero-carbon bus fleet.

While Sadiq Khan and Sian Berry have pledged a zero-emission bus fleet by 2030, Luisa Porritt has said she would aim for 2028 while Shaun Bailey has said he would achieve it by 2025.

With funding one of the biggest challenges facing TfL, Sadiq Khan has said he will push the Government for “long-term, sustainable” funding while continuing to push for the devolution of vehicle excise duty.

Shaun Bailey, meanwhile, has said he would introduce corporate sponsorship across the transport network to raise funds for TfL.

Both Sian Berry and Luisa Porritt have said they would introduce “smart, fair” pay-as-you-go road pricing schemes that would charge drivers based on things like the distance driven and the vehicle’s emissions, and that would replace existing ULEZ and congestion charge schemes.