By: James Ford

James Ford is a former adviser to Mayor of London Boris Johnson, specialising in transport, environment and technology policy. He subsequently advised several blue-chip companies in the capital including London City Airport, the Ministry of Sound and the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He has appeared on LBC and writes regularly for Conservative Home.

All 34 Articles

Labour’s plan to gerrymander London’s mayoral election will backfire

July 24, 2025

Giving the vote to teenagers may be getting the headlines, but Labour are also planning to rig London’s mayoral elections by restoring supplementary voting. It’s a plan based on dangerous assumptions, warms James Ford Labour is clearly panicking. There is a very real fear that, come 2028, the combination of a deeply unpopular Labour government [...]
Here’s how failing TfL can restore confidence in our graffiti-riddled Tube

July 10, 2025

Sky-high pay and bonuses, PR gaffes, and a failure to tackle graffiti and fare dodging suggest that TfL is losing touch with its customers, writes James Ford Last week was bad news week for Transport for London (TfL). Poor old Andy Lord, the beleaguered transport commissioner, started the week by explicitly denying that a lengthy [...]
Driverless taxis will make black cabs extinct – and that’s no bad thing

June 25, 2025

The imminent advent of ‘robo taxis’ may well be the final nail in the coffin of the London cab trade, suggests James Ford By all accounts, a London cabbie’s lot is not a happy one. You may get to drive around the capital in one of the great transport icons (the black cab is up [...]
How worried should Ed Miliband be about the CBI’s net zero U-turn?

June 12, 2025

Is the CBI’s about-face on the cost of net zero a case of shameless opportunism or an overdue conversion to common sense, asks James Ford We are arguably living in an age of screeching political U-turns. The government’s abrupt volte-face over withdrawing the Winter Fuel Allowance is probably the most egregious example. Others would include [...]
Can banning ‘bare beating’ force people to wear headphones on the tube?

May 29, 2025

‘Headphone dodgers’ who listen to music on the tube with the sound up are easy to hate but ‘bare beating’ is a problem that is harder to solve than you think, argues James Ford Public transport is often seen as an inherently good thing. Done well, transport policy can be a silver bullet that solves [...]
London can’t afford to let rich Nimbys block live music in Brockwell Park

May 21, 2025

Rich Nimbys are strangling the capital’s culture by blocking concerts in Brockwell Park, and the poorest Londoners will suffer the most, writes James Ford Do you remember when London was fun? Not just mildly fun, but properly and riotously so. A heaving metropolis where sweaty clubbers, ebullient party goers and merry music lovers packed themselves [...]
Sadiq Khan’s green belt U-turn is an admission of failure on housing

May 15, 2025

Sadiq Khan is spinning his plan to build on London’s green belt as a “radical change of approach”, but it’s nothing of the sort. It will have a very limited impact on housing starts during this mayoral term and may only add to the political heat around house building, says James Ford Margaret Thatcher famously [...]
Sadiq Khan is squandering the success of the Elizabeth Line

May 1, 2025

Despite the popularity and success of the Elizabeth Line, other major transport projects in the capital are in limbo, writes James Ford Everybody loves the Elizabeth Line, right? There are the sleek, open-plan trains, the breathtaking, well-designed stations and, perhaps best of all, there are the smooth and swift journey times that have created new [...]
The London taxi trade is dying, and it only has itself to blame

April 17, 2025

A new report has predicted the demise of the iconic London taxi, and Uber isn't to blame, writes James Ford.
Is Sadiq Khan finally getting something right on London’s nightlife?

March 20, 2025

It has taken eight years – and the appointment of one disastrous night czar – but Sadiq Khan is finally listening to industry when it comes to the future of London’s after hours leisure economy, writes James Ford As a former aide to the previous Mayor of London, it is very rare that I find [...]

Brewdog: James Watt ‘heartbroken’ as craft beer firm sold

Williams F1 ‘competing with top 50 teams in sport’, says Kenyon

This is low-key the best place to drink Italian wine in London…

By: James Ford

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