London Tory Candidate Says "Corrosive" NIMBYism Must Be Defeated

A Conservative candidate in London, where the party faces the prospect of an electoral wipe out on 4 July, believes his party must take on the "corrosive" force of NIMBYism to help rebuild its support in urban areas like the capital.

Alex Deane, the Tory party candidate party in the north London constituency of Finchley and Golders Green, told PoliticsHome he believed a lack of housebuilding was making younger voters in particular have little faith that politics can help improve their lives.

Britain has a backlog of 4.3million homes, according to think tank Centre for Cities. Its research found the housing deficit would take at least half a century to fill even if the Tory Government’s current housing target to build 300,000 homes a year is reached.

Data from the Office for National Statistics estimated the average house price in London was the most expensive in any region of the UK, with a median price of £508,000 in December 2023. This is more than 11 times the average salary across all age groups in the city

Deane, a former political commentator, consultant and author, said it was imperative to get more young people on the housing ladder.

“We’ve got to give people somewhere to live, and NIMBYism is a corrosive force in politics. We’ve got to tackle it head on and say we believe we’re going to build more homes,” he said.

“It's a major reason younger people are put off politics, because they just don't feel society and the system works for them anymore."

Finchley and Golders Green, previously represented by Tory Mike Freer, is the only constituency within inner London which is in contention of remaining Conservative at the General Election, according to the latest MRP poll by YouGov. The survey put the Tories just one