In the fast-moving world of British politics, Laila Cunningham is the name on everyone’s lips. Following a career in the Crown Prosecution Service, Laila was elected to Westminster City Council in 2022 as part of the Conservative Party. In June of last year, she defected to Reform. On the 7th of January, she announced her candidacy for Mayor of London.
Why did we invite her on?
Reform’s ascent has been nothing short of astonishing. For decades, the political status quo fed the electorate two real options: Labour and Conservative. One for the workers, one for the owners, and never shall an alternative emerge. The idea of a third party putting a challenge to this binary, let alone dog-walking them in the polls, was unthinkable even 5 years ago. Now, Reform might be the most popular political party in Britain.
How did it happen?
There are countless factors, large and small. Anxieties about national identity, crime, the country as a habitat for small businesses, and increased government overreach have sent millions of voters hunting for something new. Even if it’s not clear what the ‘new’ is. Better the devil you’re yet to know.
These stresses are just as present, and perhaps more so, in London. The capital has long been a safe red vote, but is that still the case in 2026?
We’ll find out soon enough, but we wanted to talk to Laila while that question was still up in the air. What motivated her to run? Is she optimistic? And, most importantly, what does she want to change?
What did we learn?
”It can no longer be business as usual. Every other party is just business as usual, with a little tweak. We need a fundamental change … We are being led by cowards who are too scared to help the British people.”
From the off, Laila’s frustration is palpable. And long-harboured. She might be a relative-newcomer to party politics, but her interest is nothing new.
”I’ve always been interested in politics. My mum didn’t watch a lot of TV, but she always watched the news, so I was exposed to that. We came from a communist Egypt, and she loved Margaret Thatcher; Thatcher changed her life.”
Still, Laila never entertained a career in government. Getting her start as a lawyer for the CPS, she knew circumstances were bad. She quickly came to realise that things were worse, getting worse, and she had no way of stopping it. If things were to change, it would have to start with her. The downfall of London was becoming too great to ignore for any longer, and Laila refused to stand idly by.
”London is the capital of Great Britain. It should represent everything that Great Britain represents. I don’t think it does anymore.”
Whether you go with her policies, Laila is speaking to a stress common among Londoners. As Francis puts it, having lived there his whole 43 years: “London doesn’t feel like London anymore.”
Our capital was once a high-trust metropolis. It no longer is. A tornado of crime and paranoia has raised generalised anxiety to breaking point. People clutch tightly to their phones, incessantly pat their pockets and, if they should be unlucky enough to be mugged, have no hope that they’ll ever get justice. The average civilian might not be able to pull out the relevant stats, but everyone is feeling it.
”As a councillor, I was committed to bringing down crime … They tell you it isn’t getting worse. Sadiq Khan pointed out that homicide rates have gone. That’s true, but that’s the only stat that has gone out. Knife crime’s up by 68%, a rape is reported every hour, we are going through a robbery epidemic. Every crime metric is through the roof. Shoplifting is basically a form of shopping.”
Not only has this development made Londoners increasingly suspicious of one another, but also of the authorities. The atomisation of modern life is bad enough as things are; as trust collapses, civilians are looking out for themselves more and more. The downturn is palpable…
