Susan Hall 'doesn't feel safe walking home at night and walks with keys between her fingers' as she calls for better policing

27 September 2023, 12:48 | Updated: 27 September 2023, 12:49

Susan Hall says she doesn't feel safe walking home at night
Susan Hall says she doesn't feel safe walking home at night. Picture: LBC/Getty

By Kit Heren

Susan Hall has said she doesn't feel safe walking home alone at night and walks with the sharp point of her keys between her fingers.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The Conservative London mayoral candidate told LBC's Nick Ferrari that she had felt less safe in the capital over the past five years, and said many women feel the same,

Ms Hall, who will face off against the Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan next May, called for the Met Police to deploy more frontline officers on the streets to help all Londoners feel safer.

Asked if she feels safe walking home in London at night, Ms Hall said: "No, not anymore… You ask most women - if you’re walking along at night, and you can hear someone behind you, you think ‘who’s that?’

"It’s funny because I’ve spoken to men and they don’t feel that," Ms Hall said, recalling a conversation with a male friend who said he never felt worried coming home alone from the pub after a few drinks.

Read more: I 'give my word' there will be no pay-per-mile in London and I’d scrap Ulez expansion on day one, Susan Hall tells LBC

Read more: Mayoral candidate Susan Hall brushes off liking tweet praising Enoch Powell saying any offence ‘wasn’t intended’

Susan Hall feels unsafe walking home in London at night

In contrast, she said that she had spoken to young female colleagues "and they carry their keys with the sharp bit hanging out their hands.

"The number of people I’ve said that to in various meetings and they say well ‘I do that’."

Asked if she does the same, Ms Hall said: "Since I heard that, yes I do, adding "you do feel threatened."

There have been a number of high-profile killings of lone women at night in recent years, including Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and Zara Aleena. Mr Khan and the Met have pledged to crack down on violence against women and girls.

Ms Hall said that "the person behind you is almost certainly going to be fine, it’s just at night and the echo of the steps" that feel uneasy.

Watch Again: Nick Ferrari is joined by Susan Hall | 27/09/23

She added: "In the last five years I’ve been more concerned than I have before."

There are more than 34,000 police officers in the Met - meaning the force is the largest it has ever been.

But Ms Hall said that Mr Khan "hasn’t got control of the police whatsoever."

She added: "We’ve got more frontline police officers now than ever. Where are they? We are not seeing them on the streets.

"This is the first time the Metropolitan Police have ever been put in special measures…

"And policing is a massive part of what I want to put right in London, because too many people don’t feel safe."

Mr Khan has vowed to reform the police in line with recommendations made by Baroness Casey in her damning review this year.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

c

New EPC rules for landlords could lead to higher rents and fewer homes

PM holds 'crisis summit' after Bank of England warning over 'Stagflation'

'Either be disruptors or disrupted': Starmer tells ministers at start of 'crisis summit' after 'Stagflation' warning

Exclusive
Marcelle King

'My face was swelling up like Frankenstein's Monster': LBC uncovers scores of illegal botox products being sold online

President Trump Hosts Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba At The White House

Donald Trump slams brakes on some China tariffs in third trade war U-turn

2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones - Roaming Arrivals

Calls for Kanye West to be removed from X after 'antisemitic rampage' online

Netlifx has hiked its subscription prices without adverts by £2, or 18%, to £12.99 a month for British users.

Netflix hikes prices for Brits after hitting record subscription figures

EL SALVADOR-RELIGION-WELBY

Justin Welby to live at Lambeth Palace despite quitting as archbishop after report into Church safeguarding failures

Retired PC Tim Bradshaw (left) and Andrew Newman, deputy chair of Sussex Police Federation, outside Portsmouth Crown Court

Retired police officer found not guilty after knocking two men off electric motorbike in order to 'protect life'

Detective Sergeant Richard Mills, aged 42, of Rochdale was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court

Police detective jailed for 18 months after two sexual assaults on colleagues in workplace

A music teacher who appeared on a hit Channel 4 show has been accused of sexual assault and making indecent images of children.

Music teacher who appeared in hit Channel 4 show charged with making indecent images of children

Exclusive
A former prisoner who was pregnant while behind bars has called for childbearing women to get more support from the justice system.

‘I cried myself to sleep, covered in blood’: Former prisoner who was pregnant while jailed calls for justice system overhaul

Six-month old Sophia Kelemen was killed by a driverless car in a horror accident on January 2.

Baby girl dies in horror accident after driverless car smashes into pram on family holiday

Mohamed Al-Fayed's brother has denied sexual assault allegations brought forward by three former Harrods employees.

Mohamed Al Fayed's brother 'unequivocally' denies sexual assault allegations by three former Harrods employees

Kanye West, left, and Bianca Censori arrive at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Kanye West declares he’s a ‘Nazi,’ ‘loves Hitler’ and that he has ‘dominion’ over Bianca Censori in vile rant

A British man found dead with his wife inside their isolated French villa

British couple found dead in French villa named as fears former organised crime financial investigator was 'murdered'

TV chef Gino D'Acampo’s ITV shows have been pulled from schedules

Gino D’Acampo TV shows pulled from schedules amid investigation into ‘sexually inappropriate’ comments