Former Tory Cabinet minister, and leadership hopeful, Rory Stewart has announced he is standing for Mayor of London as an independent candidate.
Stewart was a Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border for ten years, until he had the Tory whip removed for rebelling against the Government to try and stop a no-deal Brexit. Earlier today he announced he would be stepping down as a MP at the next election and has resigned from the Conservative Party.
In one of his selfie videos on Twitter, he announced he's running to be the next Mayor of London.
I am running as an Independent candidate for Mayor of London, and here’s why.
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) October 4, 2019
Please join me in my campaign: https://t.co/8y3xWpl9hY#Rory4London pic.twitter.com/jnaNy8IF0s
The video makes clear that he's running as a centrist, who is anti hard Brexit. It opens with Stewart describing London as "the greatest city on earth". He makes allusion to a number of other topics, including air quality, the housing crisis, and crime — the last of which has thus far been the main focus of his new rival, Tory candidate Shaun Bailey.
Along with Bailey, he will be facing off against the incumbent Mayor — and odds-on favourite for the election — Sadiq Khan, Lib Dem Siobhan Benita, and The Green Party's Sian Berry, and a handful of others.
A big part of his message rallies against the "extremism" of Parliament today, which he dubs the "gothic shouting chamber of Westminster". He wants to bring people together, "showing that the way we do it, is not through division but through love."
Only time will tell how Londoners react to this message. In the meantime, expect to see a lot more shaky selfie videos on your timeline.