Laila Cunningham, Reform UK’s candidate for the London mayoral election in 2028, vows to run London with advanced technology, comparing her vision to "Tokyo on steroids." She aims to streamline bureaucracy by reducing police paperwork and increasing frontline officer presence, reversing recent cuts to police front counters. Cunningham criticizes current Mayor Sadiq Khan’s crime statistics, emphasizing that residents feel unsafe despite reductions in violent crimes like knife crime and homicides.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-03,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
London will be run like “Tokyo on steroids” if Reform UK win the 2028 Mayoral election, the party’s candidate has claimed.
asserted
candidate → run → election
Laila Cunningham, who was announced as the City Hall hopeful in January, said dealing with issues in the capital is currently “laborious” – and that technology should be used to streamline bureaucracy.
This would involve eliminating police paperwork to free up officers for frontline operations, automating the Tube network and using AI to streamline planning to boost housebuilding.
asserted
This → announce → housebuilding
The former Conservative councillor – who has become a high-profile figure in Reform following her defection last year – was laying out her plan to run London, should she win the election in 2028.
asserted
she → become → 2028
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) Ms Cunningham said a Reform UK-led City Hall would “embrace tech to the maximum” to solve the capital’s most pressing issues.
asserted
Hall → speak → issues
Since being unveiled as the challenger to a fourth consecutive Labour term in two years’ time, the former Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutor has been a constant critic of the Mayor’s record on crime.
asserted
prosecutor → unveil → crime
While Sir Sadiq Khan has boasted of his record in reducing violent crime – especially falls in knife crime and homicides in recent years – Ms Cunningham claimed Londoners constantly feel “unsafe” and wary of being the victim of all sorts of offences.
asserted
Londoners → boast → offences
“The safety of the city is not defined by how many people are murdered,” she said.
asserted
she → define → city
“It’s defined by how many people are raped, robbed and social behaviour.
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people → define → raped
How many shops are suffering from theft, how many phone thefts are happening.
asserted
thefts → suffer → theft
I’m going to be mugged’ because he was in a certain part of London.
asserted
he → go → London
There’s a freedom to be taking out your phone, wearing jewellery, a woman walking.
asserted
woman → ’ → jewellery
We don’t have that freedom anymore.
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We → have → freedom
And that’s the freedom I grew up in.
asserted
I → ’ → ?
“I’m not saying that London was a utopia that I grew up in, but I sure as hell knew that if I called the police, they would come and they would investigate.
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they → say → police
And now people don’t feel that.
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people → feel → that
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“That perception comes from reality.
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perception → read → reality
People see, people know of someone who’s been a victim of crime – or they’ve been a victim of crime.
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they → see → crime
She also joined critics in claiming that the Mayor has been cherry-picking certain crime statistics to make the figures look good, adding that victims have stopped reporting thefts and other neighbourhood offences due to a lack of trust in the police.
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victims → join → police
To restore the relationship between communities in London and their local force, she has pledged to double the number of visible officers on the streets.
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she → restore → streets
She also vowed to reverse the Met Police’s controversial decision to shut down or reduce the hours of 24/7 police front counters across the capital, as well as doing a “day one” audit of how every police officer spends their time, including exploring how tech can be used to reduce paperwork.
asserted
tech → vow → paperwork
On the latter, she criticised City Hall’s decision to block the Met’s planned contract with Palantir due to “serious concerns” over the procurement process.
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she → criticise → process
The firm has also faced criticism over its work with both the Israeli military and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
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firm → face → military
However, Ms Cunningham said: “Our officers are bogged down in paperwork – it’s laborious and lengthy, but it can be modernised.
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it → say → paperwork
“Whether you agree with Palantir or not, I want to find the best tech provider to streamline paperwork so officers are out on the streets policing.
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officers → agree → streets
AI and technology aren’t necessarily going to take jobs; they make people more productive.
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people → go → jobs
“I want London to be a safe city of the future – Tokyo on steroids.
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London → want → steroids
“How many clicks does it take on the website to pay your Congestion Charge?
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it → take → Charge
If it’s ten, I’m going to reduce it to five, and then I’m going to reduce it to two.
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I → ’ → two
And that only comes from embracing technology and understanding that AI should give us not only more money back for your public services, but also time.”
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AI → come → services
Technology is also at the centre of her proposals on transport and housing which she says will help to transform London into a “safe, modern” city.
asserted
she → say → city
Ms Cunningham claims that, as Mayor, she would not allow transport unions to “hold London to ransom”, threatening to automate the London Underground instead to avoid strikes.
She also said that she would look to Hong Kong for inspiration on mass housebuilding near Tube stations and major transport hubs – at the moment, she claimed, the Mayor has “overregulated construction with green demands”.
uncertain
Mayor → claim → demands
The capital’s housing crisis, meanwhile, is also a planning crisis, the Reform UK candidate said.
asserted
candidate → say → ?
The Aporia
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