Summary

  • Eddie Nestor discusses the major points from last night's BBC London mayoral debate

  • Sadiq Khan from the Labour Party, Susan Hall from the Conservatives, Rob Blackie from the Liberal Democrats and Zoë Garbett from the Green Party took part

  • Issues being discussed included policing, housing and transport

  • You can call the show on 0800 731 2000, text 81333 and start your message with "London", or message us on WhatsApp on 08000 321 333, starting your message with “London"

  1. Thank you and goodbyepublished at 09:03 British Summer Time 26 April

    London elections 2024 story slice

    That's all from this morning's live page.

    The discussion continues on BBC Radio London and there's plenty more coverage of the race for City Hall on the BBC London homepage.

    Thank you for being with us and goodbye.

  2. 'Green Party candidate is breakout star'published at 08:57 British Summer Time 26 April

    More from the Evening Standard's City Hall editor Ross Lydall. He says: "To be fair to Sadiq, I think he's a very convincing politician. Of the three mayors, he's been by far the most conscientious.

    "He might not have the blue-sky-thinking of Ken or the showbiz factor of Boris but I think you have to be fair to Sadiq he has taken the job very seriously, more seriously than any of his predecessors.

    "In terms of his three rivals, I would say [Green Party candidate] Zoe Garbett is the breakout star here. We've found somebody who's very likeable, very enthusiastic and has added a bit of sunshine to this contest.

    "She looks and feels like modern young London."

  3. Why are people seemingly disinterested in mayoral election?published at 08:54 British Summer Time 26 April

    The London Evening Standard's City Hall editor Ross Lydall is talking us through the possible lack of interest in this election.

    He adds: "Is it general disillusionment with politics? Possibly. It may be general unhappiness with the state of the nation rather than particular discontent or excitement.

    "Certainly, we've got a main candidate that many of us know. Sadiq has been there for eight years and aiming for 12. That is not very exciting.

    "If we had two brand new big characters - another Boris or Ken - that would really cross over and get the audience going."

  4. 'No buzz about this election'published at 08:51 British Summer Time 26 April

    The London Evening Standard's City Hall editor has joined the discussion.

    "It's not a conventional race," Ross Lydall says. "It's very different from last time round, which was exceptional with the pandemic and the delayed election which didn't happen in 2020.

    "Looking back at my pictures and memories in 2021, we were all going round with face masks and at hustings there were no audience members so it was great to see an audience last night who were able to look the candidates in the eye.

    "There doesn't seem to be a buzz in the city. We haven't seen many signs in people's windows or estate agent billboards saying 'Vote Sadiq or Vote Tory. I've seen nothing like that at all."

  5. The taxi driver's viewpublished at 08:45 British Summer Time 26 April

    Another key topic of this election campaign has been transport and the environment.

    Black cabbie Paul Kirby has been speaking to BBC Radio London.

    "Listening to the four candidates talking, it was only Susan Hall that seemed to have the motorists' back," he says.

    "She was talking as if she was a motorist and had the motorists' back. Nobody else seemed to care really."

    Black cab signImage source, Getty Images
  6. Your emailspublished at 08:28 British Summer Time 26 April

    Voters have been emailing BBC London with their views - here is a selection of what they've been saying:

    "More London homes - stop selling off the new builds to people who don't actually live in UK," Mr Antoniuo writes in.

    "It’s all very well saying build new homes to help with housing," Ricky Faust writes. "What about the thousands of empty offices and office blocks since Covid? The mayor should grant change of usage from commercial office space to residential. The cost in changing is nothing compared to building and can be done straight away."

    "Has anyone been through Lewisham or Stratford where high-rise flats seem to go up every week?" emails Bridget Edwards. "Who is buying these places and who is living in them? I live in Bexley and when going into London I am amazed that on the route into London Bridge there are constant new buildings, high-rise apartments. For who?

    "I originally come from Bermondsey and the same situation is prominent in that area. Who is buying this property?"

    You can email hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk to share your thoughts.

  7. 'What resources are you going to provide?'published at 08:00 British Summer Time 26 April

    Tilisha Goupall

    A concern of many is how the candidates would tackle the capital's knife crime.

    Figures show that knife crime in London has risen each year since the pandemic, with 13,503 incidents recorded in the capital between July 2022 and June 2023, a 21% increase on the previous 12-month period.

    Tilisha Goupall's brother Jermaine - who was not in a gang - was stabbed to death in Croydon aged 15 in 2017.

    She was at the debate last night and has been speaking to Eddie this morning.

    She says: "To be honest with you, I would have preferred to hear more about investment in the services for young people and what they can really do but it only focused on policing and knife wands.

    "What resources are you going to provide?"

  8. All you need to know about the electionpublished at 07:45 British Summer Time 26 April

    Londoners will be heading to the polls on 2 May, with those who live in the capital, are aged 18 or over on the day of the election and are a British, European Union (EU) or Commonwealth citizen who does not require leave to remain in the UK being able to vote.

    This year valid photo ID is required for everyone who votes, with polling stations open between 07:00 and 22:00.

    Voters will also be able to vote on the 25 members, 14 of whom represent individual constituencies with the remaining 11 selected according to the share of votes received by each party.

    You can find out more about the election here.

  9. 'Completely opposite approaches'published at 07:38 British Summer Time 26 April

    Dave Hill adds the two leading candidates have contrasting campaigning styles.

    He says: "The basic rule of political campaigning is you don't name your opponent because that helps them.

    "Susan Hall has done the exact opposite from the very beginning because the Conservatives nationally have been doing this for a long time now: they think Sadiq Khan is someone they want to mention a lot because they think they can say 'look what happens when Labour is in charge, it's terrible. Look at that Sadiq Khan's London'.

    "He doesn't mention her my name at all. He talks about the Conservative candidate and another feature of last night - and we've been seeing this a lot - is Sadiq associating himself very much with the Labour party and talking about the possibility of a Labour national government, probably later this year, and saying 'look what a Labour mayor and a Labour government working together can achieve'.

    "They are taking completely opposite approaches to their associations with their party names. It's very revealing."

  10. What do to if you're in two mindspublished at 07:28 British Summer Time 26 April

    Eddie Nestor

    Dave Hill who runs the website onlondon.co.uk has been speaking to Eddie.

    "Rob Blackie and Zoe Garbett are definitely in with a chance," he tells BBC Radio London.

    "Listeners who are trying to decide how to cast their votes, for my vote to really count under first past the post - this new system that we've got this year - [might think] I'm going to have to vote for either Sadiq [Khan] or Susan [Hall], according to preference.

    "You do have the options with the Assembly-wide list vote to put an X next to the Lib Dems for Rob Blackie or next to the Greens which would help Zoe Garbett. That's an option for listeners if they're in two minds."

  11. What happened during the debate?published at 07:10 British Summer Time 26 April

    During the hour-long debate the four mayoral candidates clashed over violent crime, affordable homes and road use.

    BBC London’s Yasmin Rufo was in the audience and you can read her write-up of what happened here.

    Alternatively, you can read our live coverage from when it was broadcast here or simply watch it back online.

  12. What does the mayor of London do?published at 06:54 British Summer Time 26 April

    The mayor of London has the largest personal mandate of any politician in the UK, with a constituency of 6.2 million voters.

    With a budget of billions, the mayor has an important role in making London a better place for everyone who visits, lives or works in the city.

    The mayor receives a £20.4bn budget that they can use to improve London’s economic and social development, with their key areas of responsibility being transport, roads, policing, housing, economy and culture.

    London’s mayor does not have control of many day-to-day services such as social services, schools and rubbish collection which are run by London councils.

    Similarly, the NHS, the welfare state and national tax rates are controlled by central government.

    You can read more about the role of the mayor here.

  13. The candidates vying to be mayorpublished at 06:49 British Summer Time 26 April

    Only the candidates of the four main parties were invited to take part in the programme: Rob Blackie from the Liberal Democrats, Zoë Garbett from the Green Party, Susan Hall from the Conservatives, Sadiq Khan from the Labour Party.

    There are another nine people who are also vying to be mayor. They are (in alphabetical order):

    • Femy Amin - Animal Welfare Party
    • Count Binface
    • Natalie Campbell - Independent
    • Howard Cox - Reform UK
    • Amy Gallagher - Social Democratic Party
    • Tarun Ghulati - Independent
    • Andreas Michli - Independent
    • Brian Rose - London Real Party
    • Nick Scanlon - Britain First

    You can find out more about them here and how they say they would change the capital if they became mayor here.

  14. Welcome to our London mayoral debate reaction coveragepublished at 06:45 British Summer Time 26 April

    Hello and welcome to our live coverage of reaction to BBC London’s mayoral debate which aired on BBC One on Thursday night.

    Hosted by Eddie Nestor, the hour-long hustings was recorded in Tottenham on Wednesday and featured the four main party candidates discussing issues including policing, housing and transport.

    Eddie is back on BBC Radio London to hear your thoughts about how the debate went ahead of the election on 2 May.

    You can call the show on 0800 731 2000, text 81333 and start your message with "London", or message us on WhatsApp on 08000 321 333, starting your message with “London" (further information with charges can be found here).