Three people are now publicly in the running to be the next Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London in the elections due in May 2020.

The three who have been named as applying for the role now have to go through the party’s application process. The final list published for party members in London to vote on may therefore both not include all three and may also include others not yet publicly named.

The three are:

Siobhan Benita, who ran as an independent candidate in 2012, nearly beating the Liberal Democrat candidate, and has since joined the Liberal Democrats.

Lucy Salek, the Lewisham East Parliamentary by-election candidate.

Dinesh Dahmija, a successful Asian businessman who sits on the Federal Board and featured in the Evening Standard today.

As I wrote before about the role:

Doing the role well is particularly tough as the [Mayor of London] contest – which has never yet looked winnable for the party – happens alongside the elections for the London Assembly – where even in the party’s worst year, one GLA member (Caroline Pidgeon) was still elected. Being a Mayor candidate with a huge focus on you when the main aim is helping get others elected is a tough balance to get right. It’s also why many in the party in the past have liked the idea of a Mayor candidate who is also on the party’s list for the London Assembly.

Whether or not that later combo happens, it’ll be a good point for party members to repeatedly quiz all would-be Mayor candidates about: ‘how will you help us get more list members elected to the London Assembly?’ followed up by, ‘all the previous Mayor candidates have said nice things about this too; how are you going to be the most successful we’ve ever had at doing this?’.

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