Westminster Council leader Philippa Roe has spoken to getwestlondon of her disappointment on losing her bid to be a Conservative candidate in the London mayoral elections.
The Tories revealed a four-man shortlist which omitted Ms Roe over the weekend, opting to chose former Hammersmith & Fulham leader Stephen Greenhalgh along with Zac Goldsmith, Andrew Boff and Syed Kamal and men who will attempt to replace Boris Johnson, when he steps down next year.
She said: “I’m naturally disappointed, I wouldn’t have put my name in the hat if I didn’t think I had a good chance and that I’d make a good mayor.”
And she said the Conservative short-list was not a return to an "closed-door all-males club", adding: “There was a very strong field, all were good candidates and very strong candidates were picked.
“It is important to have female role models, but I was running as an individual, not as a woman. I lost the vote this time and that’s life.”
Finally, she said she did not know if she would put her name forward again, but did not rule out the possibility: “I don’t know if I would consider doing this again in the future, I’ll have to see where my life has taken my by then.
“Who knows what I will be doing in four or five years time.”
The Conservative candidate will be announced in September this year.
