James Ford: The Night Czar is dead. But for London’s publicans the Night Mayor has only just begun
Same show, different day.
James Ford is a columnist for City AM and is a former adviser to Boris Johnson during his tenure as Mayor of London.
The Mayor of London’s dreaded Night Czar is no more. The post has been deleted. Permanently. This should come as no great surprise. The role was an unmitigated failure when occupied by Sadiq’s hapless appointee, Amy Lamé, and the post has sat vacant for more than a year following her resignation. We would probably raise a glass to celebrate this news, but sadly, all the clubs have closed down. (Thanks, Amy!)
Indeed, rejoicing that the Night Czar has gone the way of the Romanovs may be premature. On the recommendation of the Mayor’s Nightlife Taskforce (a committee of industry experts from across the nighttime economy) it is being replaced by a Nightlife Commission (a committee of…wait for it…industry experts from across the nighttime economy). Although the input of genuine business people with real frontline experience must surely be welcomed, it is not clear that City Hall is really taking the Commission, or the nighttime economy, seriously. The Commission has been allocated the rather miserly sum of £300,000 for its initial work, with the intention that it will ultimately become self-funded.
For comparison, £300,000 is what City Hall spent last year promoting al fresco dining. It is equivalent to the combined salary of just two of Sadiq’s nine deputy mayors. It is significantly less than the £958,000 that City Hall spent on providing stewards for the Notting Hill Carnival in 2025. Even more tellingly, £300,000 is slightly less than the total increase in business rates that would have been paid by the three London boozers (the Spread Eagle in Wandsworth, the Beaten Docket in Cricklewood, and the Dog & Bell in Deptford) worst hit by the government’s botched business rates hike prior to the recent screeching U-turn.
Given that the Nightlife Taskforce’s own report found that one in four working Londoners work in the evenings or at night and that the capital’s nighttime economy was worth more than £139bn in 2024, £300,000 now, and an uncertain future funded via GoFundMe and corporate sponsorship, does not really sound like it is going to move the dial much.
Whilst the capital’s overburdened boozers, bars and nightclubs should be concerned (and arguably insulted) that their future has been entrusted to an underfunded, underwhelming City Hall quango with a possibly short lifespan, this is sadly just one example of the indifference that Sadiq Khan’s City Hall has for the hospitality sector.
The sector has faced a torrid time during Khan’s tenure as Mayor. Data from the Night Time Industries Association found that more than 3,000 pubs, bars and nightclubs have closed in London since 2020. In 2024, research by Bonus Finder saw London …
Same show, different day.
James Ford is a columnist for City AM and is a former adviser to Boris Johnson during his tenure as Mayor of London.
The Mayor of London’s dreaded Night Czar is no more. The post has been deleted. Permanently. This should come as no great surprise. The role was an unmitigated failure when occupied by Sadiq’s hapless appointee, Amy Lamé, and the post has sat vacant for more than a year following her resignation. We would probably raise a glass to celebrate this news, but sadly, all the clubs have closed down. (Thanks, Amy!)
Indeed, rejoicing that the Night Czar has gone the way of the Romanovs may be premature. On the recommendation of the Mayor’s Nightlife Taskforce (a committee of industry experts from across the nighttime economy) it is being replaced by a Nightlife Commission (a committee of…wait for it…industry experts from across the nighttime economy). Although the input of genuine business people with real frontline experience must surely be welcomed, it is not clear that City Hall is really taking the Commission, or the nighttime economy, seriously. The Commission has been allocated the rather miserly sum of £300,000 for its initial work, with the intention that it will ultimately become self-funded.
For comparison, £300,000 is what City Hall spent last year promoting al fresco dining. It is equivalent to the combined salary of just two of Sadiq’s nine deputy mayors. It is significantly less than the £958,000 that City Hall spent on providing stewards for the Notting Hill Carnival in 2025. Even more tellingly, £300,000 is slightly less than the total increase in business rates that would have been paid by the three London boozers (the Spread Eagle in Wandsworth, the Beaten Docket in Cricklewood, and the Dog & Bell in Deptford) worst hit by the government’s botched business rates hike prior to the recent screeching U-turn.
Given that the Nightlife Taskforce’s own report found that one in four working Londoners work in the evenings or at night and that the capital’s nighttime economy was worth more than £139bn in 2024, £300,000 now, and an uncertain future funded via GoFundMe and corporate sponsorship, does not really sound like it is going to move the dial much.
Whilst the capital’s overburdened boozers, bars and nightclubs should be concerned (and arguably insulted) that their future has been entrusted to an underfunded, underwhelming City Hall quango with a possibly short lifespan, this is sadly just one example of the indifference that Sadiq Khan’s City Hall has for the hospitality sector.
The sector has faced a torrid time during Khan’s tenure as Mayor. Data from the Night Time Industries Association found that more than 3,000 pubs, bars and nightclubs have closed in London since 2020. In 2024, research by Bonus Finder saw London …
James Ford: The Night Czar is dead. But for London’s publicans the Night Mayor has only just begun
Same show, different day.
James Ford is a columnist for City AM and is a former adviser to Boris Johnson during his tenure as Mayor of London.
The Mayor of London’s dreaded Night Czar is no more. The post has been deleted. Permanently. This should come as no great surprise. The role was an unmitigated failure when occupied by Sadiq’s hapless appointee, Amy Lamé, and the post has sat vacant for more than a year following her resignation. We would probably raise a glass to celebrate this news, but sadly, all the clubs have closed down. (Thanks, Amy!)
Indeed, rejoicing that the Night Czar has gone the way of the Romanovs may be premature. On the recommendation of the Mayor’s Nightlife Taskforce (a committee of industry experts from across the nighttime economy) it is being replaced by a Nightlife Commission (a committee of…wait for it…industry experts from across the nighttime economy). Although the input of genuine business people with real frontline experience must surely be welcomed, it is not clear that City Hall is really taking the Commission, or the nighttime economy, seriously. The Commission has been allocated the rather miserly sum of £300,000 for its initial work, with the intention that it will ultimately become self-funded.
For comparison, £300,000 is what City Hall spent last year promoting al fresco dining. It is equivalent to the combined salary of just two of Sadiq’s nine deputy mayors. It is significantly less than the £958,000 that City Hall spent on providing stewards for the Notting Hill Carnival in 2025. Even more tellingly, £300,000 is slightly less than the total increase in business rates that would have been paid by the three London boozers (the Spread Eagle in Wandsworth, the Beaten Docket in Cricklewood, and the Dog & Bell in Deptford) worst hit by the government’s botched business rates hike prior to the recent screeching U-turn.
Given that the Nightlife Taskforce’s own report found that one in four working Londoners work in the evenings or at night and that the capital’s nighttime economy was worth more than £139bn in 2024, £300,000 now, and an uncertain future funded via GoFundMe and corporate sponsorship, does not really sound like it is going to move the dial much.
Whilst the capital’s overburdened boozers, bars and nightclubs should be concerned (and arguably insulted) that their future has been entrusted to an underfunded, underwhelming City Hall quango with a possibly short lifespan, this is sadly just one example of the indifference that Sadiq Khan’s City Hall has for the hospitality sector.
The sector has faced a torrid time during Khan’s tenure as Mayor. Data from the Night Time Industries Association found that more than 3,000 pubs, bars and nightclubs have closed in London since 2020. In 2024, research by Bonus Finder saw London …
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