New information disclosed by Westminster City Council has revealed that the ruling Conservative administration spent just £4,000 on external legal advice before deciding not to pursue a judicial review of the Mayor of London’s Oxford Street pedestrianisation proposals.
The disclosure raises fresh questions about Conservative claims that Westminster needed a dedicated “fighting fund” to oppose the plans.
Last year, Conservative leader Paul Swaddle called for the council to establish a £250,000 fighting fund to challenge the Mayor’s proposals. By the time of May’s local elections, that figure had grown to £500,000, with opposition to Oxford Street pedestrianisation featuring prominently in Conservative election literature.
Despite the rhetoric, the council ultimately spent just £4,000 seeking external legal advice before concluding that a judicial review would not proceed.
Councillor Geoff Barraclough, Labour spokesperson on Oxford Street, said:
“It’s clear that the Conservatives were never serious about launching a judicial review. They talked tough in opposition, but the reality is that a legal challenge was never likely to succeed.”
“The fact that they commissioned what appears to be only a few hours of external legal advice tells its own story. The much-vaunted fighting fund was political theatre, not a serious legal strategy.”
“Residents were told that Westminster needed to set aside hundreds of thousands of pounds to fight the Mayor. In reality, the Conservatives spent just £4,000 before quietly abandoning the idea.”
Labour has consistently argued that Westminster should focus on securing improvements to the Oxford Street proposals rather than pursuing costly and ultimately unsuccessful legal action.