Outgoing Tory chairman Greg Hands was appointed minister for London on Tuesday after Paul Scully was dismissed in a Cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Hands, the Conservative MP for Chelsea and Fulham, was handed the London role alongside a new job as a middle-ranking minister in the trade department, after Rishi Sunak demoted him from the party chairmanship.
Mr Hands said it was "great to be back" in ministerial roles. "The Government will continue to deliver for London and I will also scrutinise Mayor Khan very closely," he tweeted.
Interviewed by the Standard, a disappointed Mr Scully had earlier urged the Prime Minister to take the London role seriously.
“It's often felt a lonely place trying to build up London’s confidence in the Conservative party,” he said, noting that the Standard had run a front page in June which asked: “Have the Tories given up on London?” (see below)
Party bosses denied the outgoing minister a shot at running for London mayor, opting for a shortlist of three from which the relatively unknown Susan Hall emerged the winner.
She trailed badly in one recent poll to Sadiq Khan, and has a long history of verbal gaffes to overcome heading into the election next May.
Mr Scully said: “We’ve got to show that we’re serious about London, more than we have done.”
The Prime Minister's spokesman denied that Mr Hands was given the London job as a consolation prize after he was shunted out of the party chairman role.
He is an "experienced London MP (who) understands the vital importance of our capital city", the spokesman told reporters.
Mr Scully expressed pride at his achievements after he was appointed to the London role at the start of the Covid pandemic in February 2020.
Collaboration across different parts of government and across the political divide “helped us get through the worst” of the pandemic, he said, noting also his role in championing London hospitality and retail businesses.
More lately, he said he had made the case “for people to dampen, not inflame community tension” before the provocative Suella Braverman was fired by Mr Sunak as Home Secretary.
