Havering is not like other London boroughs, we are very different to most areas of inner London.

As someone who was born and brought up in Romford, it is the special character of Romford, Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham that I believe we should cherish and defend.

Romford is a traditional English market town and remains within the historic county of Essex, but we of course have very close connections to the City of London too.

We may be a “London” borough, but Essex we are and Essex we will stay!

Havering has its own identity, history and traditions, we have wonderful open spaces, green belt and parks that are precious. Letting Romford become a concrete jungle is something I will fight to stop!

We also have lower crime than most parts of London and some of the best schools in the region, with Havering Council delivering good, efficient public services, without the huge Council Tax rises we see elsewhere.

Havering is also a borough that upholds our traditions in celebrating St George’s Day, Armed Forces Day and proudly flies the Union Jack from our town hall 365 days of the year.

The choice for the people of Havering in next year’s town hall elections is whether we want to keep what we have and retain the special character of Havering or, allow ourselves to become just another lump of Sadiq Khan’s inner London.

The Mayor’s plan to scrap rules that protect Havering and the suburbs, will pave the way for a surge in building and change Havering to the extent that it will become unrecognisable in a few years.

That is why I have launched “Keep Havering Special”, with the support of former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who came to Romford Market two weeks ago to support my campaign.

I will lead this because I love what our town and borough represent and pledge to unite our community around this in 2018.

A very Merry Christmas!