Sadiq Khan’s £150million plan to ban traffic on Oxford Street could be under threat from the Conservatives 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 in the local elections.
The party won 32 seats on the central London council against Labour’s 22 in what was called ‘a knife edge’ election.
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 has slammed while in opposition.
Khan gave plans to revamp the area the green light in February, with City Hall papers authorising the changes saying traffic will be stopped in ‘summer 2026’.
The scheme would see the west part of the shopping and tourism street closed to cars, buses and taxis starting near Ikea at one end and stretching past Selfridges at the other.
Bicycles and scooters would even be banned at some times of day, and only allowed to use the stretch of road early in the morning and late at night.
There would also be more trees, greenery and rest areas for people to sit and for children to play in, while the mayor has also said he wants a new events space in the area.
But Tory councillors are against it amid fears the plan would bring more traffic to the surrounding streets, which would upset residents.
Labour won the council four years ago, marking the first time they had taken it in the borough’s history, in which it has mostly been Conservative.
Opponents have tried to position the plans for Oxford Street as a key issue for the election, where Labour, the Tories, Reform and the Greens all stood candidates across the 18 wards in the area.
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Last month Swaddle called 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, demand transparency from Sadiq Khan and listening to local concerns.’
Sadiq Khan was approached for comment.
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