Sir James Cleverly has won early backing in his bid to be the Tory candidate for Mayor of London.

The former Home Secretary has gained the support of more than half of the Conservative councillors in the capital in just a week since quitting the shadow Cabinet to run for City Hall.

Four out of the eight Tory MPs in the city are also already behind his bid to take on Lord Sadiq Khan or whoever the Labour candidate is in 2028.

The four are shadow London minister Gareth Bacon, MP for Orpington, as well as Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner MP David Simmonds, Bromley and Biggin Hill MP Peter Fortune, and Old Bexley and Sidcup MP Louie French.

Mr Bacon said: “I’ve known James Cleverly for 23 years. I served alongside him on the London Assembly and in Parliament.

“He is tailor made for this - he knows what he believes and why; he will fight for Londoners and focus on delivery.”

A string of Tory council leaders have also thrown their support behind Sir James.

They include Steve Tuckwell in Hillingdon, Elizabeth Campbell in Kensington and Chelsea, Paul Swaddle in Westminster, Colin Smith in Bromley, Paul Osborn in Harrow, Robert Morritt in Wandsworth, as well as Croydon Mayor Jason Perry.

So far at least 235 Conservative councillors out of 407 in London, or around six in ten, have declared their backing for Sir James, as have three London Assembly members, Neil Garratt (Croydon and Sutton), Alessandro Georgiou (Londonwide & Enfield) and Thomas Turrell AM (Bexley and Bromley).

Former Foreign Secretary Sir James said: “I'm hugely grateful to the Members of Parliament, Councillors, Council Leaders and London Assembly Members from every corner of London who have put their names and support behind my campaign to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London.”

Sir James is by far the most heavweight Tory hopeful for Mayor of London since Boris Johnson.

However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has made clear that she wants to search far and wide so her party gets the strongest contender for the mayoral race.

In an interview with The Standard, Sir James outlined how he would campaign for the London mayoralty on “classical” Tory policies and as an “aspirational, entrepreneurial, forward-thinking Conservative candidate”.

Lord Khan is expected to decide next year whether to seek a fourth term in City Hall.

If he does not stand, Brent East MP Dawn Butler, ex-Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting, are expected to launch bids to be Labour’s mayoral candidate.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK selected ex-Tory Westminster councillor Laila Cunningham as its mayoral contender at the start of the year.

A recent poll suggested that she could beat the Conservative challenger into the run-off against Labour’s candidate in the contest in less than two years’ time.