James Manning/PA
The Conservative candidate running against Sadiq Khan for London Mayor this year has again endured another media mishap, after her interview with the BBC’s Eddie Nestor took a few chaotic turns.
Hall was on the back foot almost immediately, after it transpired that she was wholly unprepared for the radio interview to start. The host introduced the Tory nominee, who took a good 15 seconds to realise she was actually on air.
This prompted Nestor to, rather comically, call out ‘Earth to Susan’ during the awkward spell of silence. However, Susan may have been better off staying mute – as things didn’t get much better from there.
It also transpired that Hall had ‘not read’ a report on the Met Police and their handling of Wayne Couzens – the police officer who brutally murdered Sarah Everard in 2021. Unfortunately for the mayoral hopeful, the worst was yet to come.
The presenter asked Susan Hall if she agreed that Lee Anderson’s comments about her rival in the race to run London were ‘Islamphobic’ or not. The Ashfield MP had suggested that Saqid Khan ‘was letting his Islamist mates’ control the capital.
He was promptly suspended for this remark, and his political future remains up in the air. With Khan and Hall set to lock horns in the upcoming election campaign, the latter was offered the chance to cool political tensions.
Alas, it was an opportunity she would spurn. Despite giving a series of non-committal answers, Nestor continued to probe Hall, asking her – at least ten times – how she would classify Anderson’s rhetoric.
Susan Hall is no stranger to an on-air gaff. Two recent interviews with LBC went viral – one of which involved Nick Ferrari putting her knowledge of London to the test. That was a non-starter, but we reckon this morning’s interview gives it some competition.
