Right-wing agitator Laurence Fox has blamed ‘pure political corruption’ after losing his spot on the ballot for Mayor of London due to a paperwork co*ck-up.
The former actor, best known for his role as the sidekick in the Morse spin-off Lewis, was planning a second run against Sadiq Khan for the top job in the capital.
But London Elects, the body responsible for organising the upcoming vote, said his nomination forms were submitted too close to the deadline to fix several errors with them.
According to a screenshot tweeted by Mr Fox yesterday, the deputy returning officer for Greater London told him he had fallen short on signatures from city residents.
The 45-year-old was presumably hoping to improve on his showing at the 2021 London elections, where he achieved 1.9% of the vote and lost his £10,000 deposit.
In a now-deleted tweet posted last night, he admitted this history meant he was ‘not even a threat’ – but still assumed he was important enough that Mr Khan personally blocked his candidacy.
He wrote: ‘Why is he so keen to shut me up? Because he’s a crook, that’s why.’
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A total of 12 people successfully managed to fill out their paperwork on time before the London Mayor elections and will be listed on the ballot on May 2.
They include the familiar comedy candidate Count Binface, who achieved just 0.9% less of the vote than Mr Fox in 2021, and Shyam Batra, who wrote in a Facebook post last year that ‘aliens have been here for a long time’.
Also on the list is the Reform UK candidate Howard Cox, who has a similar platform to (and a name that rhymes with) Laurence Fox – suggesting candidates are not necessarily selected on how their policies affect the incumbent mayor.
London Elects said in a statement that representatives of the Reclaim Party leader had met with the body for the first time less than 24 hours before the deadline for nominations.
It continued: ‘Mr Fox’s representatives were advised to ensure that completed forms were submitted well before the Wednesday 4pm statutory deadline.
‘The paperwork was submitted very shortly before 4pm.
‘Upon inspection, the nomination forms contained errors which – the deadline having passed – were too late for Mr Fox’s team to correct.’
— Laurence Fox (@LozzaFox) March 28, 2024Every nomination paper from every borough was oversubscribed and double checked.
We have written to you repeatedly asking you which nominees are invalid and for what reason.
Please can you get back to our team with these perfectly reasonable questions.
This smells fishy. https://t.co/XqlHbTbQnF
According to the email screenshot posted on X, the supplied forms only had nine signatures each from Islington and Lambeth, when ten were required.
To run for mayor, candidates need to supply signatures from at least 10 residents of every borough in London, plus a further 10 from the City, for a total of 330 subscribers.
The vote will take place on May 2, along with many other local elections across England and Wales.
Who is running for Mayor of London on May 2?
- Shyam Batra, independent
On Mr Batra’s fun campaign website, the phrase ‘Our Nations Socio-Economic and Political Stability depends on Health, Safety and well being of our workforce and residents’ is followed by a copyright symbol, and he says ‘CITY’ stands for communication, infrastructure, transition and youth. - Count Binface, independent
Count Binface beat Ukip at the previous mayoral election, finishing in eighth position within a field of 18. His website (which features a merch store) doesn’t appear to have been updated since he ran in last year’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. - Rob Blackie, Liberal Democrats
Lib Dem Rob Blackie has said he would ‘fix the Met’ as mayor. He tells the story of being violently mugged in Vauxhall 21 years ago, which required him to be fitted with a titanium neck – his website calls him the ‘bionic man’. - Natalie Campbell, independent
Ms Campbell is the co-CEO of drinks company Belu Water and chancellor of the University of Westminster. She says she would take a ‘CEO’s approach’ to the mayorship, placing her focus on young people and small business owners. - Howard Cox, Reform UK
Mr Cox has also voiced support for scrapping the Ulez, and went so far as to describe the ‘blade runners’ who vandalise cameras used in the scheme as ‘good, decent, honest people’. He has also said he will combat what he describes as ‘black on black’ knife crime. - Amy Gallagher, Social Democratic Party
Mental health nurse Ms Gallagher previously got media attention for suing the NHS after she accused it of forcing ‘critical race theory’ on its workers. Her handle on X is @StandUptoWoke. - Zoë Garbett, Green Party
The Greens came in third at the last mayoral elections in 2021, and the party will be hoping for a similarly strong showing this time around. Ms Garbett has pledged to reduce tube fares and hold landlords to account. - Tarun Ghulati, independent
Mr Ghulati describes himself as a ‘catalyst for positive change’ whose family heritage is ‘steeped in service’. He has pledged to create dedicated units to tackle crime, scrap the Ulez, and deliver ‘genuinely affordable homes’. - Susan Hall, Conservative
In her campaign, Ms Hall has placed her attention on tackling crime and said she will scrap Ulez on day one of her term. She has recently faced questions over a supportive video that painted modern-day London as a crime-ridden hellhole using scenes that were, in fact, from New York. - Sadiq Khan, Labour
Mr Khan is hoping to be elected to his third term as Mayor of London, a post he has held since May 2016. Questions during his campaign are likely to focus on his handling of crime and the controversial expansion of Ulez. - Andreas Michli, independent
Mr Michli pinpoints the Covid lockdown in 2020 as the start of his political awakening – the businessman was issued over £120,000 in fines. He says he has a strong work ethic ‘cultivated through years of bodybuilding, entrepreneurship, and fighting for freedom’. - Brian Rose, London Real
Mr Rose, who likes to wear a huge pocket handkerchief in his suit, says he wants to make London a ‘centre of excellence’ for cryptocurrency. He describes the city today as a ‘truly terrifying place to live’ and ‘an Orwellian nightmare’.
Over the past four years, Mr Fox has managed to develop a controversial appearance on Question Time into a full-blown career in right-wing provocation.
In countless interviews and social media posts, he has provided divisive takes on hot-button issues and generated a lot of online discourse as a result.
However, his repeated attempts to translate those efforts into personal political success have been met with failure.
For six months last year, his Reclaim party had an MP in the form of anti-vaxxer and ex-Tory Andrew Bridgen, but he resigned in December citing a ‘difference in direction’.
Mr Fox’s year so far has been marked by losing a high-profile libel case, being called ‘extremely difficult’ to co-parent with by his ex-wife Billie Piper, and going viral for wearing a pair of Nike trainers at a rally where he called for a boycott of Nike.
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