Susan Hall shared her irritation at what she perceived as ‘woke stupidity’ regarding Tesco’s Christmas tree range, but the company has hit back at her social media posts
The leader of the main opposition party in City Hall should focus more on issues facing Londoners rather than stoking culture wars on social media, a Labour Assembly Member has said.
Susan Hall, who leads the Conservative group on the London Assembly, appeared furious this week over claims that Tesco were no longer using the term “Christmas” when selling its festive trees.
She branded the decision “woke stupidity” and “wretched ridiculous nonsense” in a series of social media posts, despite the major supermarket clarifying that the Christmas category was “clearly marked” on its range of trees.
Customers can still find Christmas trees listed as such under a special Christmas tab on the Tesco website, suggesting the brand has not moved away from the traditional celebration.
Ms Hall, who ran against the Mayor of London in last year’s election as the Tory candidate, has been leader of her group since May, having also had a four-year stint between 2019 and 2023.
Her combative style often sparks furious exchanges with Sir Sadiq Khan in City Hall, while she is consistently vocal about both London-wide and national issues on social media.
Labour Assembly Member Leonie Cooper told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Susan Hall AM haunts London like the Ghost of Christmas Past. Londoners don’t forget that the previous government played Scrooge and gouged ÂŁ1.1billion out of funding for the Met. But Susan Hall will never mention that.
“In contrast, Mayor Sadiq Khan is delivering record investment in the Met. And the proof is in the pudding: violent crime, knife crime and homicides have all fallen significantly. Politicians should stop issuing social media statements and focus on what’s truly at the top of Londoners’ Christmas lists.”
Tesco sources said it was “misleading” to suggest that the company doesn’t use the term ‘Christmas trees’ any longer.
A spokesperson for Tesco told the LDRS: “We are proudly celebrating Christmas at Tesco and have a range of real and artificial Christmas trees in store as part of a wide selection of Christmas products to help our customers celebrate Christmas this year.
“This product is described as an ‘evergreen tree’ to make it clear which type of Christmas tree is inside the box and help customers to distinguish between the many Christmas trees in the range. Elsewhere on the box it is clearly marked that this product is part of our Christmas category.”
Earlier this month Ant Middleton, who announced he will run as an independent for the Mayor of London role in 2028, said Sir Sadiq’s Christmas efforts were “too little, too late” in response to the Mayor posting a video of a tree gifted by Norway in Trafalgar Square.
The Mayor also came under fire from some parts of social media after allegations that the Oxford Street lights failed to mention Christmas, despite Sir Sadiq mentioning Christmas when promoting the switch-on.
The City Hall Conservatives were contacted for comment.
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