Cleverly avoids culture war issues in pitch to be next London mayor

Conservative hopeful says Sadiq Khan has lost passion for the job' and Andy Burnham is very anti-London'

James Cleverly has pledged to run a classically Conservative" campaign to become the mayor of London, insisting that his victory in the capital would be a stepping stone for Kemi Badenoch to become prime minister.

The former home and foreign secretary denied he had resigned from the shadow cabinet to run for mayor following a shift to the right under Badenoch's leadership.