Norris - drop out of the mayoral race!

12.27.23pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 25th Nov 2003

Steve Norris should step down immediately as the Conservative mayoral candidate after accepting the chairmanship of Jarvis, said the London Assembly Liberal Democrats today.

Lynne Featherstone, transport spokesperson, criticised Mr Norris's decision to take over as chairman of the engineering group, which has a major stake in one of the infracos maintaining the London Underground:

"Mr Norris must be pessimistic about his chances of being elected for Mayor. How else can he explain why he has accepted a position that poses such a conflict of interests for a Mayoral candidate?

"Taking the Jarvis shilling now would put him in an impossible situation if he had to deal with them as Mayor. There would be too much baggage for him to be the successful negotiator necessary to ensure that Londoners get the best possible deal out of the impossible PPP regime."