London politics lost one of its longest-serving Conservatives on Wednesday as Andrew Boff, a London-wide member of the London Assembly, announced he is quitting the party after 53 years.
Boff's resignation followed his being blocked from standing for the Conservative mayoral nomination. He will not leave the Assembly: he intends to serve as an independent London-wide member, a move that strips the Conservative group of one of its most experienced voices at City Hall.
Boff has been a fixture of the capital's politics for decades, known as a socially liberal voice inside his party and a persistent questioner of mayors of both parties in Assembly sessions. His departure, reported by BBC London News and the Evening Standard, lands at a moment when London's Conservatives are already debating their direction ahead of the next mayoral contest.
The news capped a busy day on the capital's political beat, with Westminster City Council's plan to cut more than 500 jobs and a murder investigation in Enfield also drawing attention — a reminder that City Hall and town-hall politics in London rarely stay quiet for long.
