London Mayor Candidate Condemned For Burqa Remarks: "People Hiding Their Faces For Criminal Reasons"

Reform UK's newly announced mayoral candidate for London, Laila Cunningham, has sparked strong criticism after suggesting that women wearing the burqa should be subject to stop-and-search checks by police, according to The Guardian.

Cunningham, who was named the party's candidate for the 2028 London mayoral election last week, said that covering one's face had no place in an "open society". Speaking on the Standard podcast, she claimed that if someone was hiding their face, it should be assumed they were doing so "for a criminal reason".

She also said that some areas of London "feel like a Muslim city", pointing to foreign-language signs and the sale of burqas in local markets. Cunningham argued that Britain should have "one civic culture" and that it "should be British".

According to The Guardian, her remarks have been condemned by Muslim groups and political leaders, who warned they could increase hostility towards Muslim women. Shaista Gohir, CEO of the Muslim Women's Network UK and a crossbench peer, described the comments as "dangerous" and a "dog whistle" to racists.

Gohir said her organisation had seen a sharp rise in abusive and threatening messages, forcing it to remove signage and staff photographs from its offices. She warned that such statements could further marginalise Muslim women, especially the small minority who wear the burqa.

Despite Cunningham being a British-born Muslim of Egyptian heritage and a former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, critics said her comments sent a message that Muslims did not belong in British society.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said politicians who "sow division" undermine London's strength, which he said comes from diversity and freedom of religion. Labour MP Afzal Khan also criticised the remarks, calling them a "cynical ploy" for electoral gain and warning that political language can fuel hate crimes.

The comments have reopened divisions within Reform UK, which previously said a burqa ban was not party policy.