Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of "cowardice" and "running away" from a debate with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Speaking to GB News, Reform UK Chairman for Sutton Coldfield Mark Hoath declared the London Mayor is doing a "disastrous job" of controlling the city.
Taking to social media, Farage announced he was "challenging Sadiq Khan to a debate on crime in London" stating the capital has become "lawless under his watch".
However, a spokesman for Khan dismissed the invitation to debate as a "political stunt", claiming he was "too busy working for Londoners to get crime down" to take part.
PA / GB News
|Reform UK's Mark Hoath accused Sadiq Khan of 'cowardice' after refusing debate with Nigel Farage
Discussing Khan's refusal to debate Farage, Hoath told GB News: "London is the capital of the UK, so it is kind of the camera on the UK that the whole world sees. London is everybody's capital.
"And as Nigel Farage is leader of the current party, romping it in the polls with clear leads over all of the rest of the parties, it's a valid question for him to ask, because London is ours."
Criticising Khan's "shameful" record as London Mayor, Hoath admitted it is "not surprising" that he would refuse the invitation.
He said: "I can understand why Sadiq Khan would run away and not want to have it because frankly, his record is shameful.
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|The Reform UK leader publicly challenged the London Mayor to a debate on the capital's surging crime rate
"And so once again he wants to dodge, show cowardice and run away from the question. So it's no surprise that he's turned it down, because that's just basically what he does.
"He can't be held to account, he doesn't want to be held to account, because he's doing such a disastrous job in London, the capital of the UK, all of the UK citizens's capital."
Expressing his own personal concerns for the rise in London crime, Hoath revealed fears for his daughter's safety as she lives in the capital.
Hoath told GB News: "I don't live in London, but I used to live in London. My daughter lives in London, which is a constant worry, particularly with some of these crime figures.
GB News
|Hansen told GB News that it is 'not the job' of Khan to debate political figures
"But it's everybody's capital in the UK, and therefore Nigel is quite right in asking for a debate, in terms of he's the leading politician in the country at the moment and therefore he's going to ask the debate."
Defending Khan, political adviser Karl Hansen claimed it is "not the job" of the Mayor to debate political figures.
He argued: "I love a good political debate, but there's a time and a place for them, and there's a sort of current right-wing fixation with London, wanting to portray it as a lawless hellhole to make wider points about crime and immigration.
"And we can all understand why it's in Nigel Farage's interest to have a big culture war right on the television about these issues, but that's got nothing to do with the interests of the people of London.
"And quite frankly, it's not really anything to do with Sadiq Khan's job, which is to run the city he was elected to represent."