Ebookers multi-millionaire founder Dinesh Dhamija has announced his intention to run for the next Mayor of London as a Liberal Democrat. His announcement comes after the Lib Dems closed its nominations list , leaving it with five potential candidates including former civil servant Siobhan Benita and Lucy Salek. The other two are yet to be confirmed but the candidate will be picked by the end of November.
Mr Dhamija, who is the son of an Indian diplomat, founded the holiday website Ebookers in 1980 with a kiosk inside Earl’s Court Tube station, where he sold flights to Australians who wanted to go home before selling the company in 2005 for £209 million.
Mr Dhamija, who is deputy treasurer of the Liberal Democrats, said that Mayor Sadiq Khan has failed on crime, housing and transport.
Speaking to the Standard Dhamija said: “His decision to freeze fares on Tubes and buses has created a TfL deficit. Housing, he promised 90,000 houses a year, he’s delivered 6,000 — so he’s failed there. Crime is even worse than in New York. Transport he’s failed, housing he’s failed, crime he’s failed.”
Dhamija has vowed that if he becomes Mayor he would spend money to pay for 2,000 to 3,000 more police officers and believes the only way to stop knife and moped crime is by recruiting from within London’s troubled communities. “Police need to be recruited from inside the community. If there are three brothers then you want one of the brothers to be in the police.”
Mr Dhamija entered into politics in 2014, and in 2016 he was asked by former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron to be the party’s enterprise business adviser.
The Knightsbridge resident’s other major passion is how the capital can better integrate immigrants. He believes all immigrants should be made to learn and speak English. He said: “The top end is more or less integrated with us, but the bottom end isn’t, and we need is to go deeper in and get them all to integrate. We’re losing out on a lot of talent. By learning English and speaking it in the right way, it makes you much more accepted and you feel like you’re part of the rest of the people.”
