On May 6, millions of Londoners will vote in the mayoral election.
The Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan, the current mayor of the capital city, is expected to hold onto his position, with the right-wing Conservative Party candidate Shaun Bailey lagging in opinion polls.
But a range of outsider candidates intend to challenge Khan, including drill rapper Drillminister, who describes himself as “representing the working class”.
Al Jazeera spoke to the aspiring politician about his agenda of curbing homelessness, crime and pollution.
Al Jazeera: Drill music has often been decried by politicians as supporting violence and YouTube has deleted drill music videos, at the request of police. Why does drill music rile some officials?
Drillminister: Because it is the country’s dirty secret, it exposes everything the government does not want us to see and to admit. Drill music is often made by people who come from neglected communities. It highlights everything politicians want to hide like the underprivileged reality of poverty that politicians created.
Al Jazeera: Why have you decided to run for London mayor?
Drillminister: I did not believe that people from my background, London’s true working-class, were truly represented. Many people feel like their voices aren’t heard and so they shy away from politics. I want to change that and this campaign is just the start of my political career. I will keep going even if I am not elected as London mayor.
The UK is politically rigged, and this election has not been fair because of the COVID restrictions, which did not allow us to lead a fair campaign.
I could not stand on the street and give out flyers while Sadiq Khan had his face on large billboards all over the city. You cannot call it a free election when the current mayor gets to decide who is allowed to do what.
Al Jazeera: What issues affect working-class Londoners?
Drillminister: Every issue imaginable. I want to focus on homelessness, which is a big problem that costs the city a lot of money. When people on the street get ill, they need to go to the hospital, need ambulances, medical and social care. All of this costs us. If we could eliminate homelessness, make sure people have a place to live, it would save us a lot of money in the long run.
I would also like to introduce proxy addresses. These are temporary addresses where people can collect mail and basic information, ensuring they don’t lose access to vital services. It could help the homeless back into society. This initiative was introduced in the US and is now trialled in London. I want to roll it out across all boroughs.
I also want to improve the housing shortage. Sadiq Khan promised to build 10,000 homes by 2022 for £1.67 billion ($2.29bn). Only a fraction of those houses were actually built. Corona or no corona, this is not acceptable. Londoners need transparency, to know how their money is being used instead of empty promises.
Al Jazeera: In your song Choke, you rap about the politics of pollution. As London mayor, what policies would you put in place to improve this?
Drillminister: One of our main tasks is to look at where we build main roads. There have been too many wrong political decisions concerning London transport. We need to consider where we build in relation to school locations and protect our children from pollutants.
