October 16, 2026
What Makes a Good Mayor? Reflections on My Interviews with 3 of London’s Mayoral Candidates
What makes a good mayor? Is it leadership? Experience? The promises they make? Or is it something more?
Over the past three weeks on Steve’s Reflections, I’ve sat down with Josh Morgan, Susan Stevenson and Kirsten Krose to talk about their platforms, London’s priorities and what they’re hearing from voters. We also explored more personal questions: Why do they want the job? And what do they value about London as it is today?
I’ve enjoyed getting to know each of these candidates through what I hope have been open, free-flowing conversations. I want to thank all three for taking the time to participate.
As I’ve reflected on these interviews, I’ve been thinking about the qualities we should look for in a mayor. Mayoral debates and candidates’ responses to specific issues are important. So are their policies, experience and promises. But I think character matters, too: those less tangible qualities that help us understand how someone listens, engages with others and navigates difficult relationships.
I can only imagine the daily pressures of being mayor — balancing social challenges, business opportunities, long-term growth, relationships with neighbouring municipalities and dealings with other levels of government. Doing that well requires more than good ideas. It takes tact, sound judgment, an ability to listen to competing perspectives and the talent to bring people together around common goals.
This series has also prompted some reflection on election coverage itself. How do we ensure Londoners have an opportunity to hear from a broad range of candidates, including those who may not receive as much public attention? It’s a question we’ve been discussing as a team at The Loon, and one we believe deserves attention as we continue to develop our approach to covering local elections.
Ultimately, voters must decide which candidates and qualities matter most to them. My hope is that these conversations have offered another perspective on people seeking to lead our city and helped you think about choices before us.
If you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time to get up to speed on the candidates and the issues. You’ll find links to all three interviews below, along with other helpful election resources.
Week 1: Josh Morgan
Week 2: Susan Stevenson
Week 3: Kirsten Krose
Some additional helpful links:
Note: there are 12 candidates running for mayor. You can learn about all of them by visiting The City of London’s list of candidates.
The Urban League’s 14 All Candidate Meetings Now Available for Viewing
You can learn more about these meetings here.
Rogers Television is broadcasting each of them regularly as election day approaches. The Loon was thrilled to partner with the Urban League this year. We wrote many of the questions asked at these meetings we and helped promote the events, too. For a grass roots, not-for-profit, volunteer led organization, the Urban League of London has really gone above and beyond with this initiative.
All 14 Ward All-Candidate Meetings are available on the Rogers tv YouTube channel and are running regularly on Rogers tv.
Rogers tv Mayoral Debate:
Moderator Christine Taleski masterfully moderated this 90 minute debate and The Loon developed and asked the questions. you can catch the entire 90 minute debate regularly on Rogers tv or watch it on Rogers tv’s YouTube Channel here.
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