Sadiq Khan’s £150million plan to ban traffic on Oxford Street could be under threat from the Tories after the party won back control of Westminster council.
Paul Swaddle, the Tories’ leader in the area, said on Friday he would set up a legal fund to challenge the mayor’s plans after winning over voters in this year’s local elections.
The party won 32 seats on the central London council against Labour’s 22 in what was described as ‘a knife-edge’ vote.
Swaddle said the result was ‘fantastic’, telling the Local Democracy Reporting Service: ‘Neither Greens nor Reform made any inroads, and both of them threw quite a lot at it. So as far as that’s concerned, here in Westminster, I’m very pleased with the result.’
He said one of the Tories’ first moves will be setting up the legal fund to block the pedestrianisation, which he criticised while in opposition.
The Mayor of London green-lighted plans to revamp the area in February, with City Hall papers authorising the changes in time for traffic to be stopped by ‘summer 2026’.
The scheme would see the west part of the shopping street closed to cars, buses and taxis, starting near the recently-opened IKEA branch at one end and stretching past Selfridges at the other.
Bicycles and scooters would also be banned at certain times of day, meaning they would only be permitted to use the road early in the morning and late at night.
The plans would add more trees, greenery and rest areas and would also include a new events space.
But Tory councillors are against the proposals, claiming they would usher more traffic onto the surrounding streets.
Labour won control of the council four years ago, the first time in the borough’s history. It has predominantly been controlled by a Conservative council.
Plans for Oxford Street have been a key issue in the fight for Westminster, where Labour, the Tories, Reform and the Greens all put forward candidates across the area’s 18 wards.
Last month, Swaddle went so far as to call the election a ‘referendum on Oxford Street’, and said the then-Labour council ‘surrendered control, blocked scrutiny and buried the concerns of local people’.
‘A Conservative council will fight for Oxford Street: protecting bus routes, step-free access, demanding transparency from Sadiq Khan and listening to local concerns.’
Sadiq Khan was approached for comment.
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