Tory candidate predicts more 'slips of the tongue' after Labour mayor gaffe

The Tory candidate in next year's London mayoral elections said she didn't care about not being invited to speak on the main stage at the Conservative conference.

Susan Hall said she simply 'wasn't bothered' but predicted more 'slips of the tongue' after a gaffe at a fringe event on Sunday night where she pledged to become the first female Labour mayor.

The Tory contender was giving an upbeat speech about her chances of defeating Sadiq Khan in next year’s election, but ended her remarks with the embarrassing mistake.

Speaking to ITV News London Susan Hall added: "There will be lots of slips of the tongue. I will say things that are wrong. I will say things sometimes that are incorrect, but I’m normal."

Ms Hall will run against Sadiq Khan in 2024’s London mayoral election, where she hopes to prevent him from getting a third term in office.

She has made reversing the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone and a crackdown on crime central to her campaign.

"Crime is the overall thing we’ve got to address. And ULEZ expansion is simple, it will be stopped on day one and that’s a pledge," Susan Hall said..

"But I will be concentrating on different aspects of crime. We have got to get trust and confidence back in the police.

"We’ve got to get the out of special measures. We’ve got to address that.

"We were at a meeting this morning about how knife crime should be targeted. We need to look at where the issues are and where we can spend the money wisely.

"There are millions being spent on this and looking at families that are dysfunctional and children growing up without the love and care they need that makes them do this. "Equally we’ve got to make sure young people understand this is not the way to behave. They have got to put down their knives."

Susan Hall said she backed more stop-and-search to get knives off the streets but said there was no single cure to London's knife crime problem.

She said crime was spiraling out of control.

On her chances of taking over as London mayor next year Ms Hall was confident of victory, adding: "I will be the first female mayor of London."

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