ACTOR Damian Lewis has condemned outgoing mayor Boris Johnson for reneging on his promise not to turn London into "Dubai on Thames".
The fellow Old Etonian, famous for his roles in Homeland and Wolf Hall, singled out unoccupied second homes owned by rich foreign investors that have left parts of London empty as part of the reason the character of the city had "changed".
Speaking at the UK gala screening of hiw new film Our Kind Of Traitor, Mr Lewis, who described himself as a “proud Londoner”, said: "I do think it's interesting that the mayor said when he came into power that he wouldn't turn us into 'Dubai on Thames' and full of enormous, thrusting symbols of capitalism and wealth."
Mr Johnson supposedly made the claim as part of his election promises when he came into office in 2008.
Mr Lewis explained: "London has changed and the heart of London is now inhabited by people with second, third, fourth homes, these super-rich, that class of people most of us don't know or come across."
He said he took issue with "the ultra-rich, the way they've taken up residency in London, the way that's been facilitated by our leaders and our politicians".
The 45-year-old actor added: "I'm a proud Londoner and it would be a shame if the centre of London became given over entirely to people's third homes, so hopefully it won't."
Meantime, emergency proxy votes were offered to residents in north London after council bungling meant many voters were turned away from the ballot box.
Barnet council confirmed all 155 of its polling stations had been affected but was unable to say how many of the 236,196 registered voters had been turned away. It apologised and said all electoral registers had been updated so people could vote as normal.
"Anyone who attended a polling station in Barnet this morning and was turned away and therefore could not vote and was unable to return due to work reasons may be able to use an emergency proxy vote,” explained a spokesman for Barnet council, adding people would have to complete an application form on the council website and return it by 5pm.
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