Andrew Boff has successfully reached the short list for the Conservative Party’s candidate for Mayor Of London. Andrew is the only out gay contender.
The four candidates are Lord Jeffrey Archer, former transport minister, Steven Norris, and former local councillors, Andrew Boff and Bob Blackman. On 14 September, they will be voted on by the 3,000 London party members of the Conservative Party.
The top two candidates from the 14 September vote will be entered into a postal ballot and the results will be announced on 1 October.
The Labour Party will not be deciding on their candidate until after the Party Conference The current Labour front runners are Ken Livingstone and Glenda Jackson.
Andrew, 37, is a former leader of Hillingdon Council, and in the 1992 General Election he fought Hornsey and Wood Green. He is an IT Consultant and is also a commentator on the LBC London radio station for a weekly programme called London Matters.
He probably does not want reminding that his uncle, Roy “Little Legs” Smith, worked as hired muscle for the Kray Twins, so we won’t mention it.
Andrew would not wish to move into the lavish headquarters set aside for the Mayor and claims he would run London with no more than 50 staff and give tube subsidies to council tax payers.
“I can see a small revolution occurring,” he says. “People want to break away from the failures of the past. Both Lord Archer and Steve Norris did a lot for the party but they are associated with what went before. The party wants a fresh outlook”.
In a direct quote to GaydarNation, Andrew says that he “hopes his candidacy will help the Tory Party shake off their homophobic image and show itself as the Party willing to represent all Londoners.”
In a city that has a very large gay population, Andrew should be able to muster strong support.
GaydarNation will bring you updates on the voting and plan to interview Andrew for an in-depth view of his candidacy.
The election for Mayor Of London will take place on 4 May, 2000.
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