Sadiq Khan is more popular in areas where the ultra low emission zone is already in operation than in those where it has yet to come into force.
New polling carried out by YouGov for the Evening Standard found the Labour Mayor is viewed unfavourably by 52 per cent and favourably by 40 per cent of Londoners overall – giving a net favourability rating of minus 12.
But he has a rating of minus 24 in populous suburban boroughs, where the ULEZ scheme is set to be introduced, and a rating of plus five in inner London, where the ultra low emission zone has been in operation since 2019.
Khan defeated a High Court challenge from four of the outer boroughs along with Surrey County Council to the expansion of ULEZ. The scheme remains divisive with vandals targeting hundreds of cameras.
The Mayor insists that it is needed to clean up toxic air and protect the health of five million more Londoners across the wider zone and is stepping up financial support for drivers to scrap non-compliant vehicles.
However, YouGov also said that Khan’s Tory rival Susan Hall remains an “unknown figure” to most Londoners ahead of next May’s mayoral election.
The London Assembly member, who was chosen last month as the Conservative candidate, is bidding to exploit anti-ULEZ sentiment among suburban voters after the party surprisingly held onto Boris Johnson’s old constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in a by-election.
Hall scores better across London with a net margin of plus one (22 per cent favourable, against 21 per cent unfavourable). She is minus six in inner London and plus four in the suburban boroughs.
But 57 per cent in the YouGov poll also said they “don’t know” about the Tory candidate, against only nine per cent for Khan, suggesting he has a much stronger name recognition.
“Susan Hall remains an unknown figure to most Londoners, with 57 per cent not having an opinion of her,” YouGov senior political researcher Lukas Paleckis told the Evening Standard.
“It goes without saying that the Conservatives will have to pull something big out of the bag to overturn this sentiment in the capital, but with Ulez expansion causing a stir this may leave room for public opinion to change in their favour,” he said.
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