The Standard is backing Susan Hall again - and London must be baffled

Headlines that include the phrase “and XXX should be worried” have a habit of becoming a headache for the publications that run them. There are few ways to make a Guardian staffer wince faster than reminding them of their 2015 headline “Russell Brand has endorsed Labour – and the Tories should be worried”, for example.

But even by the standards of this genre, the Standard has managed something quite spectacular with its piece “Susan Hall is back — and Sadiq Khan and Labour should be very worried”.

Hall, for those who have forgotten her already, was the woefully underqualified Conservative candidate against Khan in the most recent mayoral contest. In a brief moment of madness before the results were counted, large swathes of the Lobby convinced themselves that the contest was going to be much closer than expected, and that Hall might even have won it.

The actual votes told a very different story: Khan romped home effortlessly, securing 44% of the vote to Hall’s 33%. It was not, as it turned out, remotely close. The Standard seems not to have noticed this, though, praising her record as “the one Sadiq Khan fears”, claiming “her reputation as a thorn in Khan’s side was well earned” and adding “few people in London politics have a deeper understanding of policing”.

Thankfully, for those wondering who on earth might be making the case for a candidate so dismal few in her own party try to explain or justify her selection as the party’s contender for mayor, an explanation lies in the article itself. The author, Aaron Newbury, explains he “had the privilege of working with Susan during her mayoral campaign”.

The Standard is, of course, free to share the glowing views of a former paid staffer on his former boss. The rest of us, though, are equally free to point out how stupid it makes them look.