Tony Devenish is the West Central London Assembly Member for Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster. In this short film, he explains a little about his role, his motivations in standing for public office and his view on the challenges facing Londoners today. You can read his words below or watch the film.
"I'm Tony Devenish, I’m the Assembly Member for West Central, which includes the three London boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea, the City of Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham. I've always been involved in politics. I was, dare I say it, one of those Young Conservatives and involved at university. I went out to get a real job, and then I came back later in life.
"But I started off as a local London borough councillor, which I'm still doing; 16 years later, that's how I ended up as a London Assembly Member.
"I find there's nothing else you do in life that is such a challenge, and you meet so many interesting people. I mean, when I was selected and elected, Margaret Thatcher was my most famous local resident.
"And we have very distinguished local residents in Knightsbridge & Belgravia and across West Central. So I meet some very interesting people, let’s say that.
"I'm always a great believer the top issues facing London is what Londoners think and not what I think.
"So I'm always listening to Londoners, but all the polls show it's the cost of living, number one, and it's the NHS number two and all the other issues pale into insignificance.
"But the reality is of course, at a London level in terms of things we particularly focus on, serious crime is always a major issue.
"And Mr. Khan hasn't dealt with it.
"I personally feel safe, but statistically speaking, I don't want be complacent here. But a white, middle class, middle-aged bloke is the least likely person actually, statistically speaking, to be involved in any form of crime.
"And I tend to go in well-lit streets and be working most of my time.
"So yes, personally I've always felt safe in London, but I talk to other people who aren't as privileged as I and they don't feel safe.
"In 2016, when I was first elected, the major story, the number one issue in London, was the housing crisis.
"And I do think the Assembly Members that sit on the Housing and Planning Committees are particularly frustrated. How the housing crisis, which is a huge issue, any Londoner under 40, will tell you housing particularly is hugely important, but somehow, despite trying every single way, the only time that housing is really raised up the political agenda at all since 2016 was the following year when the terrible Grenfell fire tragedy happened.
"We do need to have a full debate in this country and across London of what we're going to do because younger Londoners are getting priced out of rental properties and they can't get on the housing ladder to buy.
"We definitely need to do more on the climate.
"I think the one of the things that the mayor does so badly, he needs to work with government and the wider public sector and the private sector to actually get things done.
"I think the ULEZ wider expansion is probably the worst idea of many bad ideas that Mr. Khan's come up with in the last several years.
"It really is a waste of hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.
"It's going to do very little to improve air quality.
"If it improved air quality massively, I would support it.
"It doesn't improve air quality. Even small cities like Coventry are pushing on very quickly on electrifying their bus fleet. Mr. Khan's got an appalling record and clearly cleaner buses is not.
"You don't have to be an expert on this subject. Cleaner buses, it's obvious, would be much better than spending money penalising poorer Londoners by removing a few cars in outer London.
"I find there's nothing else you do in life is such a challenge and you meet so many interesting people and you can actually make a difference.
"That's a cliche, I know, but making a difference is important and you can both stop things that harm people's lives and actually do positive things that again help people's lives.
"So it's you know, it's a fascinating way of spending your life and a great honour."