Former U.K. Independence Party leader and Euroskeptic MEP Nigel Farage is considering a run for mayor of London in 2020.
“I have been encouraged to [stand] by a group of people, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to,” Farage, a strong Brexit supporter, said in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday. “I haven’t said no to it, I’m thinking about it.”
Sadiq Khan, who became London’s first Muslim mayor in 2016, is widely expected to be reelected in the city’s next mayoral election in May 2020.
Farage has accused Khan of failing to tackle crime in London, saying the Labour politician — who has been on the receiving end of critical Twitter missives from the U.S. president — “should spend a bit less time slagging off Donald Trump and a bit more time getting to grips with crime in London.”
The Conservative Party is expected to pick a nominee from a shortlist of three candidates in September: Shaun Bailey and Andrew Boff, both London Assembly members, and Ealing councillor Joy Morrissey.