London mayor: Korski makes Conservative Party shortlist

Daniel Korski, a vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council, made the shortlist of three candidates bidding  to become the Conservative representative at next year’s London mayoral election.

Korski, a former Downing Street aide, was joined by Susan Hall, a member of the London Assembly and barrister Mozammel Hossain in the selection contest.

Surprisingly, Paul Scully, the minister for London and MP for Sutton and Cheam, failed to make the final three, after the successful candidates were announced on Sunday.

The shortlist was drawn up following interviews by a selection panel at Conservative party headquarters.

“It’s exciting that my vision of the London Dream – the idea that with hard work this city should reward everyone- is gaining traction in the party,” Korski told Jewish News, after he was confirmed amongst the last three contenders.

” I look forward to taking the message out to all the London members of the party in the next weeks”
Korski, a tech entrepreneur who worked as David Cameron’s deputy head of policy,  launched his mayoral bid in May, saying:”“I am proud of our community and have worked through the JLC and Jewish Museum to strengthen it. Now I want to support all Londoners.”

Educated at the London School of Economics, where he gained a first, and at Cambridge University, as a British official, Korski worked in a number of positions in London, Washington DC, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan.He has also written frequently for publications including The Spectator.

As well as his JLC role, Korski has just launched Forgotten Exodus, which aims to collect, preserve and share testimonies of Jews expelled from Poland during the then Communist government’s antisemitic 1968 campaign.

Writing for Jewish News on the topic last month, he observed:”My mothers family were among those expelled. Moshe and Ita Wajntraub weren’t prominent in any way.

“They weren’t members of the Communist party. Modest, hard-working people, they observed some Jewish occasions but were not particularly religious.”The mayoral election takes place next May.

Sadiq Khan, who has worked closely with the community throughout his time in City Hall, is bidding to win the election for a third time.