Interest in running for London city council noticeably down from past years

Time is running out for Londoners to file their nomination papers to run for city council this fall.

A review by 980 CFPL shows there are far fewer people registered to run for city council this year compared to previous years.

As of Wednesday morning, there are only 31 people running for 14 seats on city council this fall. That’s down from 72 in 2014 and 54 in 2010.

There are also fewer people running for mayor so far this year: 11 people have filed papers to run, down from 15 in 2014 and 2010.

“There’s this famous slogan in politics that a week is a long time. I think three weeks is even longer,” said Andrew Sancton, the former head of Western University’s local government program.

“I think it’s quite likely that more candidates will emerge — I’m certain more candidates will emerge — so I’m not terribly concerned about it.”

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Although he feels there’s still plenty of time for candidates to register, Sancton is more interested in what issue will be this election’s major focus.

“What I’m looking for is not so much the number of candidates there are, but whether there’s going to be a sort of organized group of candidates, or even a less organized group of candidates, who want to put the brakes on bus rapid transit (BRT). I think that’s the big question for this election,” said Sancton.

Those opposed to BRT have been anything but silent, which is why Sancton is surprised the issue hasn’t sparked more candidates to come forward.

“Maybe that’s still going to happen, but if it doesn’t then it’s going to be a rather typical, incumbent kind of election,” he said.

As of Wednesday, there are four councillors who would be acclaimed on July 27 if no one runs against them. So far, no one, including Ward 3 Coun. Mo Salih has registered to run in Ward 3.

Londoners have until July 27 to file their nomination papers for the municipal election this fall.

— With files from Devon Peacock