Rory Stewart to run for London Mayor after quitting Conservative Pary

Rory Stewart has announced on Friday that he will be running as an Independent candidate for Mayor of London in May 2020. He will be up against Labour's Sadiq Khan, the Conservative Shaun Bailey and Siobhan Benita, from the Liberal Democrats.

"This is a city that is now in real danger, danger from Brexit, from technological change, but I think above all from what has happened in British politics, to the kind of extremism that is taking over our country," he said in a video posted on Twitter.

The MP for a constituency in Cumbria since 2010 announced earlier today his resignation from the Conservative Party. "It’s been a great privilege to serve Penrith and The Border for the last ten years, so it is with sadness that I am announcing that I will be standing down at the next election and that I have also resigned from the Conservative Party," he said in a statement referring to his parliamentary seat in northern England.

Stewart, a former aid minister, was one of 21 Conservatives to be expelled from the party for backing the first step last month to introduce a new law designed to block Britain from leaving the European Union without a divorce deal.

Rory Stewart was running to become the leader of Britain's governing Conservative Party less than four months ago. Stewart, who came fifth in the contest to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister, had taken one of the most moderate stances on Brexit among the candidates.

Brexit, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to deliver on October 31 no matter what has divided the Conservative Party, with several lawmakers wanting to stop the government from presiding over a so-called no-deal Brexit, which many businesses say will hurt the economy.