Social justice advisor Rayhan Haque stands for London mayor

Rayhan Haque says he is part of "generation rent" and understands London's affordable housing problem firsthand

Rayhan Haque is one of the candidates in the 2024 London mayoral elections.

The independent candidate, who is a policy advisor, announced he was standing because "London is in crisis and the political status quo is broken".

Haque, who was previously a member of the Labour Party, told the BBC he would use citizen assemblies to involve the public in major decisions.

The mayoral election will take place on 2 May.

The 38-year-old, from east London, told the BBC he had five top priorities, the main two being to "tackle the broken housing market and the soaring levels of crime across London".

"As a millennial and someone who is part of generation rent, I understand the problems around affordable housing and what is going on right now," he added.

His other priorities include providing free school meals to all primary school students for his entire term as mayor and expanding the bike share scheme to outer London.

His final pledge is to "make London AI ready" by "establishing a tech fund and teaching Londoners digital skills".

Haque, who is a policy advisor for social justice campaigns, think tanks and charities, wants to "turn London into the new hub of AI and surpass what San Francisco is doing".

Who are the mayoral candidates?

Eight other people have been chosen as candidates for the London mayoral elections. They are:

• Rob Blackie, Liberal Democrats

• Natalie Campbell, independent

• Howard Cox, Reform UK

• Zoe Garbett, Green Party

• Tarun Ghulati, independent

• Susan Hall, Conservative Party

• Sadiq Khan, Labour Party

• Andreas Michli, independent

Speaking on Ulez he said "supported the expansion in principal" and it was not something he would reverse if elected as mayor, but criticised Sadiq Khan for "going about it in the wrong way".

Haque said he would be the first mayor to use citizen assemblies as a way of creating policies.

Citizen assemblies involve members of the general public giving their opinions to politicians on prospective policies.

On why he is running, Haque told the BBC that people currently feel "disillusioned" and were "looking for real change, fresh energy, bold ideas".

He thinks he would be a good mayor as he is "focused on results and knows how to get things done".

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