Former Lib Dem Lewisham councillor and (independent) Lewisham mayoral candidate Duwayne Brooks (OBE) has lined himself up as a potential Conservative London Mayoral candidate to challenge Khan in the next election:
This thread made me smile. 
Why’s that? Are you thinking of defecting to the Tories too? 
you must be joking
I’ve had the privilege of debating politics with you in person and I know the strength of your conviction, so of course I was joking!
What a strange decision by Mr Brooks to join the Conservatives of all parties. He attacks the (justly criticised by Amnesty) Gang Matrix with gusto but fails to note that it was introduced by Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson after the 2011 riots, in cohorts with Conservative PM David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May.
Let’s hope the current Mayor manages to work with the Met , David Lammy and others to undo their poor work and make the database fit for purpose.
Maybe Brooks is uninterested in historic blame and partisan finger-pointing, and he wants to join the most credible (in his opinion) party in order to make a positive difference to the situation, unlike Khan, who has made no positive difference (knife crime has increased under his mayoral term)
You make it sound like choosing an ice cream. 
To me it looks like a desperate attempt to be in Public life and hoping that any publicity is better than none.
Hence is makes me giggle.
Yes, may I suggest the appropriate description for Mr Brooks is opportunist
Some politicians aren’t as tribal as others, and just want to make a difference in their own right.
I think this OBE-awarded community figure, and friend of Stephen Lawrence, may have strong ideas of his own based on his lived experiences. And he’s simply not interested in party politics.
And then maybe he’s an opportunist.
Until shown otherwise both interpretation may be true.
I don’t think that’s entirely fair. He does some interesting things behind the scenes that make a difference. But for some people elected office is the ultimate ratification of one’s own views and self-worth. It may be presumptuous of me to ascribe such motivation to Duwayne, but elections/public office can be scarily seductive.
On a more positive note, I like Duwayne. I like his passion and his ability to raise issues that are not on everyone’s agenda. He spoke well at the recent hustings (as did all the other candidates) and I’m sure he will continue to raise his voice where he feels that policies can be improved on a local and national level. I suspect the Conservative Party will find somebody else as their candidate for London Mayor but perhaps a safe seat on the Conservative GLA list rather than 7th on the Lib Dem list.
Totally agree. But then your last sentence looks very odd to me. Why join any party?
That’s a good question. Brooks said “I’ve made the decision to join the party in Government - because I want to be able give young black men a voice, across not just London but across the country.” He also said Labour had failed, and failed London, specifically.
I think he has things that he wants to achieve -
and not for selfish reasons, but because he cares - and he thinks joining the Conservatives is a credible route to achieving those aims. Not sure this makes him an “opportunist” - more a “pragmatist”
Mentioning several times his OBE …
I was at the Hustings unaware of his connection with the Lawrence murder. He certainly deserves credit for recovering from the experience of that scene - witnessing what his friend suffered and then the years of police incompetence or corruption.
I think every black man has his own voice, and it’s presumptuous of Brooks to claim that he can represent the general mass of black men, just because he himself is black. Let him create some policies and then let black men - and everyone else - decide whether those policies represent their views and aspirations.
We’re in a very bad place if we believe that only black men can ‘represent’ black men; that is the basis for segregation.