Conservative donors back Moz Hossain to take on Sadiq Khan in battle for London mayor

According to Nick Candy, Moz Hossain can go beyond the traditional conservative base. Photo: David Rose for The Telegraph

Three businessmen who jointly donated millions of pounds to the Conservative Party support Moz Hossain in the fight against Sadiq Khan as the Conservative candidate for mayor of London.

Nick Candy, tycoon real estate, Vul Kolada, managing partner of the Livingbridge private equity fund, and Bassim Haidar, a telecommunications billionaire, said Mr. Hossain, a lawyer, was the most likely candidate to defeat Mr. Khan.

Currently a Tory vote is underway and the party is being asked to choose between Mr. Hossein and Susan Hall, the former Conservative leader in the Greater London Assembly, before 18 July.

The winning candidate will get 10 months to campaign to remove Mr Khan with the London-wide mayoral election due in May 2024.

Sadiq Khan will face Moz Hossain or Susan Hall in the next London mayoral election. Photo: Andrew Crowley for The Telegraph

Mr Candy, who backed the Conservatives' latest attempt to oust Mr Khan in 2021, said: «Khan has gone to great lengths to close the city to global investors, business owners and ordinary Londoners trying to improve themselves.»

< p>“Moz is the only candidate who can really beat Khan. His drive for a safer city, better transportation and his plan to appoint a deputy mayor dedicated to attracting investment to the city is exactly what business leaders have been waiting to hear.

“He is the only person who can go beyond framework of a traditional Tory base and motivate people to believe in his passion, energy and vision for London.”

In an interview with The Telegraph last week, Mr Hossain said: The 48-year-old told how he grew up in Bangladesh in poverty and went to the UK in his early twenties to pursue a career in law.

Mr Colade, who is also vice chairman of NHS England but has backed Mr Hossain in private, said: “Moz has lived a life only possible in London. From scratch, he became one of the country's leading lawyers and is now fighting to ensure that everyone gets the opportunities he seized.

“His victory is a victory for the conservatives, showing that hard work and enterprise are more important. than anything else. He will reach parts of London that other candidates simply cannot find. He is our best protector to keep the Khan from destroying London.”

Mr Haidar said: “We need a passionate, energetic leader who understands that a safer London, a London with better connections and more homes — this is London that can prosper.»