Sir James Cleverly has vowed to end Sir Sadiq Khan’s "war on the motorist" if his bid to become London Mayor at the next election is successful.

Sir James announced on Saturday he was quitting the Tory front bench, where he held the shadow housing, communities and local government brief since last July, to run for City Hall in the next election.

Labour incumbent Sir Sadiq Khan is halfway through his third term and has not confirmed whether he will stand again in May 2028.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Sir James accused Sir Sadiq of running a "vindictive assault on drivers".

Announcing that he would review the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) introduced by Sir Sadiq in 2019, he said: "I think there's been a real war on the motorist.

"In outer London, this really quite vindictive assault on drivers - both people that drive for family reasons and for people that drive for business - is causing real harm. So I want to look at a whole range of options to ease the costs and pressure of people getting around the city and doing business in the city."

It comes after Sir James accused Andy Burnham of waging a “war on London” and promised to “fight its corner” in his pitch for the mayoralty.

The former foreign and home secretary said the Prime Minister’s devolution drive would involve “centralising power in his own backyard” of Manchester, where he served as mayor, at the expense of the capital.

Sir James told LBC on Sunday: “The fact is Andy Burnham, for all his careful phraseology, is basically very, very anti-London. You can see this not just in what he’s saying but what he’s doing. He’s stripping hundreds of millions of pounds out of the budget of London councils.”

Under the Government’s fairer funding review, which was launched during Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, some London councils face cuts to funding settlements as part of a bid to redirect cash to more deprived areas.

The Tory leaders of Westminster, Wandsworth and Kensington & Chelsea councils have said they are being forced to significantly increase council tax or slash services to plug a shortfall.

Taking aim at Mr Burnham, Sir James said: “He is blaming London for London’s own success. The UK cannot be successful as a country unless London is successful as a city. And I see this in Braintree. Andy Burnham just doesn’t get it….He’s got a war with London, and London needs someone to fight its corner.”

He added: “It is a centralising of power in Andy Burnham’s favoured place, which is, you know, in his own backyard, and everyone else is going to suffer. And London particularly, because he is putting forward a very anti-London agenda.”

The Government has defended changes to the allocations, arguing they are “fixing an outdated funding system” whereby some of the wealthiest parts of the country “benefitted from exceptionally high levels of government support, while communities facing greater pressures lost out”.

Labour said the Conservatives had “trashed the economy” while in power and left “ordinary people paying the price”.

Sir James will campaign for the mayoralty from the back benches and is not seeking re-election in his Braintree constituency at the next general election.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Labour is determined to deliver good growth in every postcode – including London. And that’s what we’re doing. The Tories trashed our economy and left ordinary people paying the price. They’ve learnt nothing from their mistakes in government.

“Labour and Sadiq Khan are continuing to deliver the better future Londoners all want to see: through free school meals, more council homes, more local police, and with knife crime and rough sleeping numbers falling.

“While more failed Tories pretend to stand up for the people they’ve repeatedly failed, Labour will continue working hard every day for every Londoner and take our great capital city forwards.”