London Mayoral candidate Rory Stewart has called on local residents to invite him over for a sleepover so they can show him the city “through their eyes”.
The former MP launched #ComeKipWithMe on Twitter, saying he wants to know “your concerns and your ideas”.
“It’s a weird request but the way that mayors get to know their cities is by literally walking through every one of the 32 boroughs,” he said in the video.
“Being in other people’s shoes, seeing things through their eyes, staying in their houses.”
He said he had already stayed with two Londoners as part of his campaign, with footage showing him unrolling a sleeping mat on an apartment floor.
The independent candidate is well versed in such exchanges after he walked solo across north-central Afghanistan in 2002, staying with locals along the way.
Charlotte Edwardes quipped on Twitter: “I can’t help thinking Rory would always rather kip in a sleeping bag, and it’s only down to the pressures of society that he lives in one fixed place at all”.
But Dawn Butler, MP for Brent Central, criticised the idea, saying:
“You can’t just dip your toe into London life. You have to live it! and care about it. This seems like some kind of university project/experiment.”
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