The runners and riders in the record-breaking 2021 London Mayoral Election

With less than a month until Londoners go to the polls, there are now a record 20 candidates. But who are they and what do they stand for? Pi Media’s Jack Walters gives you the rundown.

London City Hall (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Despite the uncertainty created by the coronavirus outbreak, a record number of 20 candidates will appear on the capital's ballot paper.

Potential candidates had until March 31 to obtain two signatures from each of the capital's 32 boroughs and then needed two additional signatures from residents in the City of London. They also had to pay a £10,000 deposit fee to appear on the ballot.

The race to City Hall, previously scheduled to be held last May, will be contested on May 6. Londoners will also elect the 25 assembly members who work alongside the mayor.

But who are the 20 candidates running for London mayor?

Sadiq khan - labour party

Khan, 50, was elected London Mayor in 2016 when he fended off the Conservative Brexiteer Zac Goldsmith. During his re-election launch, Khan has vowed that under his mayoralty he would “build an ever-better London” post-Covid. This will, he confirmed, be a part of his “jobs, jobs, jobs” agenda. But Khan has also promised: a Green New Deal for London that will see carbon neutrality by 2030, the introduction of rent controls for the capital’s tenants and standing up for London’s values - something he has accused his Conservative counterpart of failing to do.

Shaun bailey - conservative party

Bailey, 49, has sat on the London Assembly since 2016. He formerly assisted David Cameron as a youth and crime adviser to Number 10. His proposals include: employing 8,000 more police officers, creating new youth centres in every borough and building 100,000 homes to be sold for £100,000 to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.

Shaun Bailey (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

SiâN Berry - green party

Berry, 46, has served as co-leader of the Green Party since 2018. She previously contested the 2012 and 2016 mayoral elections. In 2012, she received 77,347 votes, finishing fourth. In 2016, however, she received more than 150,000 votes to overtake the Liberal Democrats into third place. She is also one of two Green representatives to be elected to City Hall in 2016. Berry's proposals include: increasing tenant protections against evictions; introducing "flat fares" by 2025; and increasing the capital’s living wage to £14/hour.

Luisa Porritt - Liberal Democrats

Porritt, 33, replaced Siobhan Benita as the Liberal Democrat candidate following the postponement of the election in 2020. In 2019, she was elected as a London MEP in the UK’s final European Parliamentary Elections. Porritt has called to change stop and search so that it is only used when led by intelligence, introduce a London Apprenticeships Hub that will offer support "to businesses to unlock more apprenticeships" and create a London Housing Company that will be used to bring empty homes back into use.

Luisa Porritt (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

laurence fox - reclaim party

The actor, 42, rose to fame following his appearance as DS James Hathaway in the ITV series “Lewis”. Fox is standing on an anti-lockdown and anti-woke ticket. He hopes to "take the politics out of the Met to free our police to fight crime", "reclaim your freedom to work" by curtailing lockdown restrictions and protect freedom of speech. As a part of Fox's bid, he has struck an agreement with Richard Tice's Reform Party, formerly known as the Brexit Party, to avoid a split in the insurgent right-of-centre vote. This will see Reform nominate candidates to contest the seats in City Hall and Fox enter the mayoralty race for the Reclaim Party.

Max fosh

Fosh, 26, graduated from Newcastle University in 2018. During his final year as a student, Fosh started his “StreetSmart”series on YouTube. Since then, Fosh has amassed almost 400,000 subscribers. The YouTuber declared his intention to run for London mayor on March 12. Fosh explained to his viewers that he hopes to pip fellow Old Harrovian, Laurence Fox, in the race for City Hall and has since been pictured at Fox's Reclaim Party launch in Westminster.

Count Binface

The satirical candidate previously challenged Boris Johnson in his London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the 2019 general election. He received 69 votes but trailed the Monster Raving Loony Party's Lord Buckethead by 56 votes. His policies include a pledge to give Croydon a "facelift", for London to rejoin the European Union, and London Bridge to be renamed "Phoebe Waller Bridge”.

Mandu Reid - Women's Equality Party

The Women's Equality Party website suggests that electing a WEP Assembly Member would challenge the UK current record on gender equality. It also highlights how the UK has the biggest pay gap, the most expensive childcare costs in Europe and some of the highest rates of sexual violence. In 2016, the WEP's candidate, Sophie Walker, obtained 2 per cent of the vote.

Vanessa Hudson - Animal Welfare Party

Hudson will represent the Animal Welfare Party in the party's first London mayoral election. The AWP previously received more than 25,000 votes in London in the 2019 European Parliamentary Elections. Hudson has published her "7 Point Plan" that has called for: a push for carbon net zero by 2025, the promotion of "plant-based diets across the capital", incentivise the use of public transport, protect London's animals by creating an Animal Welfare Committee, build sustainable and affordable homes, "foster a culture where speciesism is rejected" and "celebrate and expand London's biodiversity".

Niko Omilana

Niko Omilana, 23, is the second YouTuber to announce his candidacy in the 2021 London mayoral election. Omilana has amassed 3.3 million subscribers on the platform. That is more than 500,000 more people than the total number of Londoners who cast their vote in the 2016 mayoral election. On April 2, Omilana took to Twitter to declare, "now we are about to take over the nation's biggest city" and added "vote Niko for Mayor of London on May 6th or your breath stinks".

Farah London

Born in Croydon, Farah London, 43, was the founder and CEO of BACK 2 BUSINESS International, a networking platform for entrepreneurs. She was formerly a Conservative campaigner but left the party just months before announcing her candidacy in October 2020. In an open letter to voters, the philanthropist declared: "My vision for London's growth is one where the protection and regeneration of the environment takes centre stage". London has also pledged to increase police pay and introduce measures to exempt the under 25s from paying council tax.

Kam Balayev - Renew Party

The former Cambridge and LSE student was born in Baku and previously worked at Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Justice. The Renew Party was founded as a centrist party in 2017 and has previously contested seats in the 2018 local elections and the 2019 general election. Balayev's policies include: protecting EU citizens in their settled status applications, introducing a supplementary income policy that grants city dwellers payments to alleviate their financial pressures and offer first-time buyers discounts.

Nims Obunge

Obunge served as the CEO of the Peace Alliance from 2001 to 2018 and has spent the last 20 years battling violent crime in the capital and received an MBE for his work. Obunge advocates for the police to maintain stop and search measures, but wants to "deliver youth clubs", introduce a tourist tax and ensure carbon neutrality by 2030.

Valerie Brown - Burning Pink Party

Valerie Brown has been a long-standing environmental activist. Her manifesto states: "only a revolution will save us from ecological and social collapse that the corporate class is driving us towards". Brown's Burning Pink Party hopes to create a citizen's assembly to introduce additional transport, policing, and education policies.

Piers Corbyn - Let London Live

Piers Corbyn, 74, the older brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy, will stand for London mayor against the "Covid con rules". Corbyn has also stated he wants to create a "homes for all policy", defend free speech, and offer support to the WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange.

Piers Corbyn (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Peter Gammons - UK Independence Party (UKIP)

UKIP finished fourth in 2016 with almost 4 per cent of the vote. Gammons' policies include: opposition to future lockdowns, "defending - not defunding - the police", and converting London's unused tunnels, streets and chambers into the world's first underground Pod transport system.

Richard Hewison - Rejoin EU

Like six in 10 Londoners, Hewison voted to Remain in the European Union in the 2016 EU referendum. In his launch video on YouTuber, Hewison denounced the "fanatics" who "ruthlessly severed our trade" with Europe, expressed his disappointment that Brexit brought to an end Britain's participation in the Erasmus scheme and declared he would help "restore" the UK's relationship with Brussels.

Steve Kelleher - Social Democratic Party

Kelleher stood for the Brexit Party in the Leave-voting London constituency of Eltham in the 2019 general election, receiving 3.5 per cent of the vote. Kelleher told his Twitter followers that: "If the good people of London want change - I'm their man. Labour/Tory - same old story. This is one of the least racist and best cities on earth. My priorities are clear, Housing, Crime and Transport. We will always oppose racism but my priorities are elsewhere."

David Kurten - Heritage Party

Kurten, 50, who has sat as a London Assembly Member for UKIP and Brexit Alliance since 2016, is contesting the London mayoralty as the candidate for the Heritage Party. Kurten’s priorities include: ending "politically correct" policing through targeted stop and search measures, scrapping certain congestion charges and defending statues from "vandals and Marxists".

David Kurten (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Brian Rose - London Real Party

Rose, 49, is an American-born former Wall Street banker who moved to London in 2002. After leaving the City, Rose created a podcast and has invited the conspiracist, David Icke, and controversial political figure George Galloway to appear on his platform. YouTube has recently removed some of his videos for spreading conspiracy theories on Covid-19 and the vaccine. Rose's website has suggested he intends to put "health first", "science first", "education first", "green first", "digital first", "family first", "transport first", "housing first", and "community first". However, Rose's website did not specify which policy he would put "first-first".

If you wish to vote in the 2021 London Mayoral Election, you can apply for a postal vote or to use a proxy vote by post if you register by 1700 BST on April 20. New applications to vote by proxy can be made up until 1700 BST on April 27.