Andrew Boff had wanted to become the Tory candidate for mayor but disagreed with national party policy on the European Court of Human Rights, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
A veteran London politician has resigned from the Conservative Party after 53 years over clashing positions on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Andrew Boff, who chairs the London Assembly, was first elected to City Hall in 2008 and had only recently launched his seventh attempt to become his party’s candidate for the upcoming mayoral race.
However, in what is understood to be a row over his support for the UK remaining part of the ECHR – contrary to the party’s stance – he has now resigned from the party entirely.
Boff said he had “not abandoned my Conservative principles” but believed “the party has abandoned some of its own”.
“I will not surrender those principles in order to remain a member of any political party,” he added.
Last year party leader Kemi Badenoch said anyone who wants to stand as a Conservative candidate at the next election must support her plan to withdraw from the ECHR.
Boff will now serve as an independent London-wide member, and is understood to still be eligible for his position as chair of the assembly.
Fellow assembly member Emma Best, who is the deputy leader of City Hall Conservatives, called on her former colleague to resign from the London Assembly.
“Stand down from the assembly for integrity’s sake,” Best said in a late night social media post. “Like me, Andrew’s a list member. That means Londoners didn’t vote for us, they literally voted ‘Conservative’. Let the next Conservative on the list step up.”
However, City Hall Conservatives were swift to insist that this was not the official position of the group.
Leader Susan Hall praised Boff’s contribution to the party but insisted they stand by the national leadership’s position on leaving the ECHR. The Conservatives will now be down to six members on the 25-strong assembly, but are still the main opposition.
There was a mixed response from other political parties on the London Assembly, however, with the City Hall Labour group saying Boff “deserves credit for standing by his principles”.
“When a Conservative of 53 years leaves for supporting the European Convention on Human Rights, it shows how far from the mainstream Kemi Badenoch’s party has shifted,” they added.
Hina Bokhari, who leads the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly, noted her “enormous respect” for Boff as a “man of principle”, adding: “A Conservative Party that can’t accommodate lifelong Tories like him isn’t worthy of its name. It’s now just a second-rate Reform tribute act.”
Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney, who is the frontrunner to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for the 2028 London mayoral election, said: “The Tories have lost a decent man and a powerful voice for London.
“Yet again, Badenoch’s Conservatives are happy to chase Reform UK and exclude tolerant, liberal Londoners.”
Boff has a history of rebelling against his own party – most notably heckling former home secretary Suella Braverman at the annual conference in 2023.
A Reform UK spokesperson suggested that Boff was too liberal for a centre-right party in the first place.
“Andrew Boff is a left-wing laughing stock,” they told the LDRS. “The fact he has spent 50 years as a Tory tells us all we need to know about them as a party, especially in London where they are divided beyond recognition.”
Boff was contacted for further comment.
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