To whichever London Mayor is picked - Love thy Leader

London Mayoral Hustings earlier in the election campaign (Image: LSE)

We are now less than a month away from the London Mayoral elections. Those outside the capital may not have noticed but for the eight million who live across its 32 boroughs, it is hard to escape the buzz. The coverage and political campaigning these past few months has reached fever pitch.

This election, we can argue, is too close to call. We have lost faith in polls that, in recent times, hasn't given an accurate outlook of the public's voting intentions. There are certain things we do know, however. There is a two horse race with Labour's Tooting MP, Sadiq Khan, and Conservative's Zac Goldsmith, currently Richmond Park's MP likely to occupy the top two spots. And there is a general feel in the city's polluted air that the voters' main issues surround housing, immigration, transport and, to an extent, the environment.

For me, however, the most alarming issue here is how these candidates - particularly from the larger parties - represent their parties and be led arguably by their less desired leaders. Sure, the reliance of such integration won't be as prominent should the winning politician be elected as City Hall chief, yet, for future elections, whoever is Mayor, would need to ensure they and their leader has a relationship not seen as strained. The British public has a knack of sniffing a bit of crippling conflict.

I'm sure these candidates' relations with their leaders aren't as bad as reportedly appears, but it helps if it'd be publicly known they are happy to campaign and work professionally together. Take Sadiq Khan for example. He was one of the 35 Labour MPs who nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the party's leadership race last summer. Yet since that golden nomination last June, which led to Corbyn's victory, they have kept their distance - perhaps one reason being that Khan backed Andy Burnham to be leader in the September 2015 election. This was confirmed somewhat just recently when apparent 'Corbynistas' labelled Khan as 'Hostile' towards the current leader in a daft table designed to inform Corbyn who are the most loyal to him.

Corbyn (L) with Sadiq Khan (Image: Mirror)

Whether Khan is 'Hostile' towards Corbyn or is part of a secret pact of unknown 'Moderates' who want to oust him by the summer, not much has been done to ensure they aren't cat fighting behind closed doors. They've been photographed together a couple of times while Khan campaigned for this vote next month, most recently in Corbyn's Islington North constituency. But, is there a guarantee they'll be side-by-side when it comes to campaigning for Britain to Remain in the European Union once the referendum comes on 23rd June? Would a Sadiq Khan policy as Mayor get Corbyn's seal of approval? I've not seen anything that would give me these assurances as yet.

I'll move on to Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith who's had his fair share of rebellion against his leader, and Prime Minister David Cameron. Notably, they've disagreed on two key issues in recent months - Heathrow's Third Runway and the European Union referendum where the latter Goldsmith is voting to Leave while Cameron, Remain. For Heathrow, one of the key issues widely debated in this London Mayoral election, Goldsmith has been outspokenly displeased by the government's dithering over the airport's potential third runway. Goldsmith last December in fact reportedly threatened to quit as Tory MP over this.

As London Mayor, one vital role is to maintain a close relationship with the government. If speculation were to be true over his future as Tory MP was to vanish because of a single policy, would Goldsmith guarantee that this was an emotional blip, or would personality clashes between him and Cameron dominate his first term? Cameron and outgoing Mayor Boris Johnson have had their public differences but one could argue this is because of the latter's ambitions to replace the current Prime Minister. But for Goldsmith, being Mayor, requires an initial four year commitment, working with the Prime Minister on key capital spending. If, say the EU debate, escalates out of control, this could be damaging for the Conservative's credentials in London and beyond.

While Khan and Goldsmith are considered the 'leading' candidates, the remaining eleven (yes, that many) still need to convince their relationship with their leaders are rosey. This applies less to David Furness of the British National Party (BNP), George Galloway the leader of Respect, Paul Golding of Britain First, Lee Harris of 'Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol Party', Ankit Love of 'One Love Party', Sophie Walker of Women's Equality Party and independent Prince Zylinski.

Bennett (Centre Left) besides Sian Berry (Image: Amy Romer)

However, for those predicted to complete the Mayor Election's top five, they need convincing they're good with their respected leaders. With the Green Party for example, while leader Natalie Bennett declined to stand as candidate, their only MP Caroline Lucas, was quick off the mark to suggest eventual nominee Sian Berry must definitely be first choice before Bennett made any decision to run herself. There is no reported conflict as a result but this public announcement by Lucas may have deterred her leader from wanting to run.

Meanwhile, The Party Who Shall Not Be Named, went through a lot of trouble picking their candidate. Suzanne Evans was the party select committee's preferred choice, however, somewhat undemocratically, their leader Lord Voldemort himself, decided to make his own mind and ignored the more popular choice by opting for Peter Whittle. Evans was later ousted as a Member for that party despite being respected by a cross-party of politicians. Today, we see less of Whittle and his leader together as the Eurosceptic latter is distracted with the EU referendum.

We may argue that the Liberal Democrats aren't in that sort of crisis I'm emphasising here, although I've not seen much of their candidate Caroline Pidgeon and leader Tim Farron together campaigning for her to climb up the ranks. Honestly, if any of these minor parties had an ounce more ambition, they'd be dangerous.

I am sure that these candidates are more than capable to campaign for themselves and their team of volunteers are working their socks off for their desired Mayoral choice. But a consistent powerful influence could be the difference between having the preferred candidate to occupy the London Assembly. I have someone in mind as to who I intend to vote for, but it would only be guaranteed if this person can be professional buddies with their leader.