THE Conservative Party’s candidate in the running to become mayor of London has liked tweets praising Enoch Powell.
The advocacy group HOPE not hate found that Tory candidate Susan Hall – who leads the party in the London Assembly – liked an image of Powell on X/Twitter which appeared alongside the words: “it’s never too late to save your country”.
The picture was posted with the words “it’s never too late to get London back!”.
Powell is known for his “rivers of blood” speech, which is regularly invoked by far-right groups in the UK to spread anti-immigration messages.
Hall was also found to have liked a post which described Sadiq Khan, the current Mayor of London, as “our nipple height mayor of Londonistan”.
The term “Londonistan” is used pejoratively in reference to Khan’s race and Pakistani heritage (despite the fact that Khan was born and raised in London).
The Tory candidate is known for her support of Donald Trump during the 2020 US presidential election. In reference to Khan, who is a critic of Trump, she tweeted: “Come on Donald Trump – make sure you win and wipe the smile off this man’s face”.
Following the January 6 riots in Washington, where supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol building, Hall compared it to anti-Brexit politicians campaigning for a return to the EU.
She claimed she was “flabbergasted at the amount of remainers screaming on Twitter that Trump voters should respect democracy – err, hellooo – pot – kettle spring to mind!”
Hall later deleted the tweet.
A spokesman for Hall’s campaign said: “Susan engages with many people on Twitter without endorsing their views.
“Londoners want a mayor who listens to people and deals with the bread-and-butter issues that matter to them — making our streets safer and putting more money back in people’s pockets. As mayor, Susan will deliver that.”
Georgie Laming, head of campaigns at HOPE not hate, called for Hall to be removed as a candidate.
He said: “The Conservative Party is putting up a candidate who has shown her endorsement of Enoch Powell. Susan Hall is not fit to represent London and all its diversity. She must be removed as a candidate.”
