Each week more and more candidates are putting their names forward for London Mayor and each has their own particular spin, style and substance.

According to the official website, the principal role is to promote economic development and wealth creation, social development and the improvement of the environment. To some extent, these objectives can conflict and it is a fine balance to ensure that one objective doesn’t get left behind. Having said that, it is not surprising that economic development and wealth creation is top of the list, as without this the rest would be impossible. During the last general election battle, Mr Miliband was very good at telling everyone how Labour was going to tax people, especially the ‘millionaires’, and very good at saying how they would spend this taxed income, but totally silent on how they would create the wealth in the first place, which would enable them to pay for everything they wanted to do. Fortunately, the public saw through this, although there was not enough chatter about wealth creation from the other parties either.

The question is, can politicians create wealth at all? Do they have the expertise and proficiency to do so and if not, would it be better if the role of mayor be taken by a business person who does know about wealth creation? The modern and successful business person is not the predatory asset stripper of the past. In a world where communications and social media are instant and ubiquitous, reputation management has become critically important. Satisfying customers and recognising their concerns is almost as important as selling a product or service itself.

The next Mayor of London should be a wealth creator. Someone who understands about managing risk and keeping costs under control; who understands about keeping customers satisfied; and someone who understands about sales and marketing as London has to compete with the rest of the world to stay on top. More from Lance