Tories split on Mayor's immigration amnesty idea?
On a campaign visit last week Boris Johnson confirmed that he was keen to explore the idea of an amnesty for people living in London illegally.
The Conservative parliamentary candidate Tim Archer at his side also revealed that he too supported the idea of regularisation.
"It would be better for them, and it would be better for the communities in which they live", said the mayor.
The London School of Economics estimates that at least 600,000 people without the correct papers are living among us. Other studies in the past have put the figure even higher.
At the moment, although some may have found ways to exist in a quasi-legitimate state -for instance, paying taxes by somehow obtaining a national insurance number - most are assumed to be surviving through work in the black economy.
The LSE study claimed regularisation could boost the country's coffers to the tune of £3 billion a year.
Polling research commissioned by BBC London at the beginning of the campaign suggested that people in the capital took a more relaxed view of immigration than may have been commonly assumed.
When the Conservatives made 'less immigration' a key plank of their 2005 election campaign, there was anecdotal evidence that some of their candidates in London felt very uneasy.
In inner London particularly, immigration was not prominent in their campaign literature.
So if this one Conservative candidate -Tim Archer - would publically back an amnesty, would others? Conversely, would they come out definitively against an amnesty?
We spoke to the candidate, or a member of their team, in 14 top Tory target seats in and around the capital.
In these seven, there was a clear rejection of the policy favoured by Boris Johnson:
- Harrow East
- Watford
- Enfield North
- Kingston
- Bethnal Green and Bow
- Brent Central
- Hampstead & Kilburn
In Hammersmith, a spokesman for the candidate Shaun Bailey said he would not be commenting either way.
Finally, in the following six seats, we received no call or email back to clarify the candidate's position:
- Richmond Park
- Ealing Central & Acton
- Finchley & Golders Green
- Westminster North
- Tooting
- Brentford & Isleworth
They are, no doubt, busy people.
So we can't know what this means nor whether some policies are easier to endorse than others.
I'm BBC London's political editor and presenter of the London section of the Politics Show. Here I'll be identifying the key talking points during the election campaign and trying to offer a reality check to the many promises that you'll hear up to polling day. Your thoughts welcome.
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