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Senior Conservative Sir James Cleverly has accused Andy Burnham of waging a “war on London” and promised “fight its corner” in his pitch for the mayoralty.
The former foreign and home secretary said the Prime Minister’s devolution drive would involve “centralising power in his own backyard” of Manchester, where he served as mayor, at the expense of the capital.
Sir James announced on Saturday he was quitting the Tory front bench, where he held the shadow housing, communities and local government brief since last July, to run for City Hall in the next election.
Labour incumbent Sir Sadiq Khan is halfway through his third term and has not confirmed whether he will stand again in May 2028.
Sir James told LBC on Sunday: “The fact is Andy Burnham, for all his careful phraseology, is basically very, very anti-London. You can see this not just in what he’s saying but what he’s doing. He’s stripping hundreds of millions of pounds out of the budget of London councils.”
Under the Government’s fairer funding review, which was launched during Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, some London councils face cuts to funding settlements as part of a bid to redirect cash to more deprived areas.
The Tory leaders of Westminster, Wandsworth and Kensington & Chelsea councils have said they are being forced to significantly increase council tax or slash services to plug a shortfall.
Taking aim at Mr Burnham, Sir James said: “He is blaming London for London’s own success. The UK cannot be successful as a country unless London is successful as a city. And I see this in Braintree. Andy Burnham just doesn’t get it….He’s got a war with London, and London needs someone to fight its corner.”
He added: “It is a centralising of power in Andy Burnham’s favoured place, which is, you know, in his own backyard, and everyone else is going to suffer. And London particularly, because he is putting forward a very anti-London agenda.”
The Government has defended changes to the allocations, arguing they are “fixing an outdated funding system” whereby some of the wealthiest parts of the country “benefitted from exceptionally high levels of government support, while communities facing greater pressures lost out”.
Sir James will campaign for the mayoralty from the back benches and is not seeking re-election in his Braintree constituency at the next general election.
He said Tory leader Kemi Badenoch “very supportive” when he told her earlier this week of his plans to step down from the shadow cabinet, though she would “stay neutral” on the Conservative selection process for a party candidate.
His departure opens up a vacancy amid rumours of a reshuffle planned for next month, when Parliament returns from the summer recess.
