Susan Hall
Susan Mary Hall (née Cole; born 1955) is a British politician who has served as a Member of the London Assembly since 2017 and a councillor on Harrow London Borough Council since 2006. She was leader of the London Conservatives on the London Assembly from December 2019 until May 2023.
Susan Hall | |
---|---|
![]() Hall in 2023 | |
Member of the London Assembly | |
Assumed office 20 June 2017 | |
Preceded by | Kemi Badenoch |
Succeeded by | in office |
Leader of the Conservative Group on the London Assembly | |
In office 17 December 2019 – 2 May 2023 | |
Preceded by | Gareth Bacon |
Succeeded by | Neil Garratt |
Leader of Harrow London Borough Council | |
In office 16 September 2013 – 22 May 2014 | |
Preceded by | Thaya Idaikkadar |
Succeeded by | David Perry |
Leader of the Conservative Group on Harrow London Borough Council | |
In office 6 May 2010 – 31 August 2017 | |
Deputy | Barry Macleod-Cullinane |
Preceded by | David Ashton |
Succeeded by | Paul Osborn |
Councillor for Hatch End Ward on Harrow London Borough Council | |
Assumed office 4 May 2006 | |
Preceded by | Mary John |
Succeeded by | in office |
Personal details | |
Born | Susan Mary Cole 1955 Willesden, Middlesex, England |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse |
Gerald Peter Hall
(m. 1977, divorced) |
Children | 2 |
Education | Roxeth Manor Secondary Modern School |
Website | Susan Hall for Mayor of London |
Hall is the Conservative Party candidate for the 2024 London mayoral election.
Family and business career
Susan Mary Cole was born in March 1955 at Willesden, Middlesex (since 1965 in Greater London). She is the elder daughter of Benjamin Cole (1912–72) and Mary née Palmer (1926–99). In her late teens she gained practical work experience as a car mechanic in a garage owned by her father, where she learnt how to 'strip down an engine'.[1][2]
In 1977 she married Peter Hall, a hairdresser, with whom she has two children; they are now divorced. The couple established a beauty salon in Harrow, which grew to employ over 20 people before closing.[2] Hall's daughter, Louise Staite, stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Oxford East at the 2019 general election.[3]
Political career
Harrow London Borough Council
Hall stood unsuccessfully at the 2002 election to be a councillor on Harrow London Borough Council for the ward of Headstone South.[4] She stood again at the 2006 election for the ward of Hatch End and was successfully elected.[5] In 2007, she was appointed to Harrow Council's cabinet, responsible for the environment and community safety. She was re-elected as a councillor at subsequent elections in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Hall became deputy leader of the Conservative group on Harrow Council in 2008. She was then elected in 2010 as leader of the group and therefore leader of the opposition on Harrow Council. She was appointed to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority as a borough nominee in June 2010.[6] She took over as leader of Harrow's hung council in September 2013,[7][8] before returning as opposition leader after the May 2014 election.[9][10]
In 2014, she tweeted that TOWIE star Gemma Collins, in a short appearance on ITV's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, was fat and ghastly.[11] She also called Collins, via Twitter, a "stupid fat blonde woman".[11] When asked about this tweet by ITV News, Hall said "I meant it and would say it to her face". She said that she was a victim of a campaign by the Fire Brigades Union and that "it was a sad state of affairs when a person doesn't have the luxury of being able to say what they think because of political correctness or fear of trial by Twitter jury".[12] Hall maintains that Twitter is her hobby.[2][13]
London Assembly
Hall was selected to stand as the fourth London-wide candidate on the Conservative Party list at the 2016 London Assembly election.[14] She was unsuccessful, with three candidates elected from the Conservative Party list.[15]
In 2017 Kemi Badenoch AM said she would resign her assembly seat if she were elected as MP for Saffron Walden at the 2017 general election.[16] Badenoch was elected as an MP and Hall, as next on the list, became a Member of the London Assembly in June 2017.[17] She became a London Assembly nominee on the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.[18]
Hall was elected deputy leader of the London Conservatives in 2018,[19] before succeeding Gareth Bacon as leader of the Conservatives on the London Assembly,[20] after his election to the House of Commons as MP for Orpington in the December 2019 general election.
In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in London, Hall wrote a letter to Mayor Sadiq Khan, asking him to "call in the police" to "enforce the coronavirus lockdown" in order to protect National Health Service workers.[21]
She supported Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, tweeting "Come on Donald Trump - make sure you win and wipe the smile off this man's face", referring to Sadiq Khan, who is a vocal critic of Trump.[22] Following the storming of the United States Capitol by Trump's supporters in January 2021, Hall compared the cause of the riot with opposition to Brexit in the UK.[23]
Re-elected in the 2021 London Assembly election,[24] Hall stood down as leader of the London Conservatives in May 2023.[25]
London mayoral candidacy
Hall was selected, on 19 July 2023, as the Conservative Party candidate for the 2024 London mayoral election.[26][27][28] On 19 July 2023 the Conservative Party deputy chairman Nickie Aiken MP accused the Evening Standard of "misogyny" with their choice of photo of Hall for their front page. In a letter to the Evening Standard's editor Dylan Jones, Aiken said "Your choice of photo of Susan Hall is a clear mockery, and it is contemptible - especially as the first female candidate for London Mayor from either of the two main parties".[29]
In August 2023 a letter criticising Hall, written by Dawn Butler MP and co-signed by nine other London Labour MPs, was sent to Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands concerning Hall's comments on the Notting Hill Carnival.[30] Hall had called the carnival "dangerous" and said that it put local residents through "hell". In the letter Butler wrote "your mayoral candidate seems convinced of the innate criminality of Black people and has repeatedly implied that our community has a propensity towards violence and disorder, saying that Black people have a "problem with crime". Butler asked Hands to "require that Susan Hall withdraws her comments and issues a public apology to Londoners".[30] Hall's team, writing on her behalf, said that the allegations in the letter were "desperate smears and a complete mischaracterisation" of comments she had made about the carnival.[31] A spokesperson for Hall said she made “no apology for condemning violence at public events and demonstrations” and that she was proud to celebrate London's diverse communities.[32]
In September 2023 Hall was reported to have liked a tweet that praised Enoch Powell and liked a tweet that described London's mayor Sadiq Khan as "our nipple height mayor of Londonistan". When asked about the tweets, a spokesman for Hall's campaign to be London mayor said, "Susan engages with many people on Twitter without endorsing their views".[33]
In October 2023 Hall received criticism from political opponents and Jewish groups for saying "I know how frightened some of the [Jewish] community is because of the divisive attitude of Sadiq Khan".[34] Nusrat Ghani, the Conservative Minister of State for Industry, criticised Hall for using the "language of fear and demeaning our political opponents". Hall said her comments were "misinterpreted".[35]
Political positions
Hall was described by Harry Phibbs, writing in The Sunday Telegraph in September 2023, as an "authentic, unapologetic Conservative" and that "as leader of Harrow Council, she froze council tax and balanced the budget after Labour left a £6 million deficit".[36]
Hall advocates for community safety and campaigns for crime prevention, calling for an increase in police funding to tackle knife crime.[37]
Hall is committed to reversing the 2023 ULEZ outer expansion.[38]
A supporter of Restore Trust, a political advocacy group, which is critical of the National Trust's efforts to add historical context through links to Britain's role in slavery to land and buildings it curates, she tweeted in August 2023 "History can teach us so much about our place in the world...but we shouldn't deny this to future generations by rewriting it or removing statues. We cannot let our heritage be torn apart by today's divisive politics". The tweet was accompanied by a graphic that read "I'm helping to restore trust in the National Trust".[39]
Hall is neoliberal on economic issues, and has been described as a populist.[40]
Hall's preferred approach to solving Transport for London’s financial problems would be for its working arrangements to be overhauled, with reforms made to bonuses, pension arrangements and the provision of nominee passes, which enable Londoners who live with TfL staff to travel free. The Mayor has defended these, arguing that no net savings would be made by scrapping them. Hall firmly disagrees. “The whole thing needs to be looked as a business,” she said.[41]
Electoral history
2021 London Assembly election
2016 London Assembly election
References
- Franks, Josephine (14 June 2023). "Who is Susan Hall? The hair salon owner and London mayor hopeful who says Sadiq Khan 'fears her most'". Sky News. Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- Vickers, Noah (19 July 2023). "Who is Susan Hall? London mayoral hopeful's policies explained". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Hazell, Will (19 July 2023). "Tory candidate for London Mayor Susan Hall: 'Only I can beat Sadiq Khan'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- "Election results for Headstone South: Borough Election - Thursday 2 May 2002". Harrow London Borough Council. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- "Councillor Susan Hall". Harrow London Borough Council. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- "Statement of accounts 2017/2018" (PDF). London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- "Tories get control of Harrow Council after Labour split". BBC News. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- Thain, Bruce (16 September 2013). "Council gets new leader". Harrow Times. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- Shammas, John (27 May 2014). ""Justice has been done": Labour celebrate retaking power at Harrow Council". MyLondon. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- Proctor, Ian (10 June 2014). "Unveiled: Harrow Council's new power-wielding cabinet committee". MyLondon. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- Croft, Ethan (13 June 2023). "Tory who called Gemma Collins 'stupid fat blonde' could be new London Mayor". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Harris, Simon (19 November 2014). "Senior Conservative who called TOWIE star Gemma Collins fat and ghastly says, 'I meant it and would say it to her face'". ITV X. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- Proctor, Ian (19 November 2014). "Gemma Collins: Calls for Tory councillor to resign after stream of 'offensive fat-shaming' tweets about TOWIE star". The Mirror. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- "London-wide Assembly Member candidates 2016". London Elects. 12 August 2016. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- "Results 2016". London Elects. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- Hoscik, Martin (8 May 2017). "Harrow Tory leader set to join London Assembly following General Election". MayorWatch. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- "New Assembly Member, Susan Hall, takes her place at City Hall". Greater London Authority. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- "Susan Hall". Greater London Authority. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- "Susan Hall". Greater London Authority. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Mathewson, Jessie. "New London MPs will step down from City Hall roles in May". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- Boscia, Stefan (24 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Tube could shut amid overcrowding, union warns". CityAM. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- Huskisson, Sophie (19 July 2023). "Tories go to war over unflattering photograph of London mayoral candidate". The Mirror. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- Walker, Peter (7 January 2021). "Tories urged to suspend politicians who likened US violence to anti-Brexit protests". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- "Election 2021: Full results for London Mayor and London Assembly". ITV News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- Vickers, Noah (2 May 2023). "Conservatives choose new City Hall leader". Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- Walker, Peter (19 July 2023). "Susan Hall chosen as Conservative candidate for London mayor". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Williams, Grant (12 June 2023). "Harrow councillor shortlisted to be Conservative candidate for Mayor of London". MyLondon. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- Lydall, Ross (19 July 2023). "Susan Hall wins Tory race to face-off against Sadiq Khan for London mayoralty". Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- Huskisson, Sophie (19 July 2023). "Tories go to war over unflattering photograph of London mayoral candidate". The Mirror. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- Vickers, Noah (26 August 2023). "Tory mayor candidate views Black people with suspicion, Labour alleges". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
- Williams, Zoe (28 August 2023). "Hate London and all it stands for? You're not alone – but you're in terrible company". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- Mason, Rowena (22 August 2023). "Tory London mayor candidate criticised for 'offensive' Notting Hill carnival views". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- Spirit, Lara (15 September 2023). "Susan Hall: Tory mayoral candidate liked tweet praising Enoch Powell". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- Salisbury, Josh; Burford, Rachael (3 October 2023). "Susan Hall: Tory mayoral candidate criticised for suggesting Jewish people 'frightened' by Sadiq Khan". Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
- Burford, Rachael (4 October 2023). "Government minister criticises Tory Mayoral candidate Susan Hall over Jewish comments". Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- Phibbs, Harry (10 September 2023). "Susan Hall can win - but she can't do it alone". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- Walker, Amy (18 January 2019). "Violent crime rises by 43% in three years on London Underground". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- Heath, Allister (30 August 2023). "London's revolt against the Ulez scam is set to shatter politics as we know it". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- Mortimer, Josiah (30 August 2023). "Conservative London Mayoral Candidate Susan Hall Backs Fringe Right Wing 'Restore Trust' that Challenges Criticism of Empire". Byline Times. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- O'Grady, Sean (19 July 2023). "Could this populist Brexiteer Trump fan really become mayor of London?". The Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- Neicho, Joshua (14 April 2021). "Who is London Tory Susan Hall and why is she so cross with Sadiq Khan?". On London.