Laila Cunningham


Laila Ahmed Cunningham is a British politician and former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor. She was elected to Westminster City Council in 2022 [Westminster City Council election|2022] for the Conservative Party and defected to Reform UK in June 2025. In January 2026, Cunningham was announced as Reform UK's candidate at the 2028 London mayoral election.

Early life

Cunningham was born in Paddington, London to Egyptian parents who had emigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Cunningham said that Egypt was nearly "communist" at the time.
She grew up in Kilburn in London, as one of five children. She was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, a private school that teaches the French curriculum. At secondary school, she took a keen interest in basketball – particularly due to her height. She was part of the team representing South East England, and played in the London Youth Games. She trained at the Centre of Excellence for Basketball in Europe, and also played in California while studying at California State University, Long Beach.
Before entering politics, she was a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Political career

Conservative Party

Cunningham said that her mother was a supporter of the Conservative Party and despised trade union leader Arthur Scargill. Cunningham herself admired Margaret Thatcher.
Cunningham stood in the Queen's Park ward in the 2018 Westminster City Council election, in which all three seats were won by Labour. In 2022, she stood in the Lancaster Gate ward and was elected. In the 2024 [London Assembly election], she was on the London-wide Conservative list, and was not elected.
In the 2024 general election, Cunningham was due to be the Conservative candidate in Rotherham. She withdrew "due to a change in circumstances", meaning the party did not contest the seat. Excluding the convention not to stand candidates in the constituency of the incumbent Speaker of the [House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons], it was the only constituency in England, Scotland or Wales where the Conservatives did not stand.

Reform UK

Cunningham defected to Reform UK in June 2025. She said the Conservatives had "let the country down" on issues such as taxation and immigration. The leader of the Conservatives on the council, Paul Swaddle, said that Cunningham had frequently been late or absent and had lost their trust since the Rotherham decision; she denied the allegations.
Due to making political remarks to the Evening Standard whilst still a CPS Prosecutor in June 2025, Cunningham drew controversy as prosecuting lawyers are expected to not take part in "any political or public activity which compromises, or might be seen to compromise, their impartial service to the Government of the day or any future Government". This led to her resignation from the CPS, which was immediately accepted; she would likely have faced disciplinary process if she had not resigned.
After defecting, Cunningham was mentioned by BBC News, The Daily Telegraph and The Times as being a potential Reform UK candidate for mayor of London in 2028. She criticised incumbent Sadiq Khan over knife crime in London.
In August 2025, Cunningham was one of the launchers of Women for Reform, alongside Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Sarah Pochin MP, and leader of Kent County Council Linden Kemkaran.
On 7 January 2026, Cunningham was announced as the Reform candidate for the 2028 London mayoral election. Cunningham proposed giving priority in social housing to British citizens, and abolishing the Ultra Low Emission Zone. Having been criticised by some on the right for having attended a Pride parade, Cunningham said "I’ve always been very pro gay rights, and I’ll always march for that".

Personal life

Cunningham is a mother of seven children. She had four children from a ten-year marriage to Frenchman Philippe Dupuy, which ended in divorce when he left her for a woman in Dubai.
After her divorce, Cunningham undertook freelance legal work, before setting up an app called Kitchin Table for self-employed women to set up working groups in their homes. She moved to Los Angeles to set up the app in 2018. That same year, she married American tech investor Michael Cunningham, with whom she has another son. She also raised Cunningham's two existing children and thus considers herself to have seven children.
She had a sister who died of cancer around 2022.
Cunningham is a practising Muslim. She said in September 2025 that she faces Islamophobic abuse, but would only report it if there was a threat. She has also said that she does not blame people for holding anti-Muslim prejudice, that Islamophobia should not be codified as a criminal offence, and that Muslims must accept being offended or move to another country. She is also in favour of banning burqas in London.