Cleverly avoids culture war issues in pitch to be next London mayor

Senior Tory says Khan has ‘lost passion for the job’ and Burnham is ‘very anti-London’ in interview with LBC

James Cleverly has vowed to run a “classically Conservative” campaign to become the mayor of London, insisting his victory in the capital would be a stepping stone for Kemi Badenoch to become prime minister.

The senior Tory denied he had resigned from the shadow cabinet to run for mayor after a shift to the right under Badenoch’s leadership. However, in a series of interviews on Sunday he avoided speaking about culture wars issues, which have been a focus for the Conservative leader.