“My Mother Slept with an AK47 by Her Bed to Protect Us”: Tory Hopeful’s Story

Sara Gezdari, a Conservative Party candidate hoping to become London’s next mayor, has revealed that her mother kept an AK47 by her bed to protect the family from marauding gangs during the civil war in Albania.

The revelation was made in an interview with The Independent, published on November 8, 2026, as she campaigns to be the Tory candidate for London mayor in 2028 .

THE CHILDHOOD TERROR

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Gezdari was 13 when she left her native Albania for Italy to escape the civil war that engulfed the country in 1997, after the fall of its brutal communist regime.

“One of the most traumatic experiences that I have is at the time as a child in Albania. Sleeping in this little house and being confined for weeks and weeks, not being able to go to school, not being able to walk on the street unless you had a male figure next to you, like your dad or cousin, someone that would accompany you, because young girls would be kidnapped and sold to the international prostitution market,” she told The Independent .

The constant fear meant her mother Elvana, a former gymnast who became a doctor, slept with an AK47 next to her bed before they moved to Italy.

“It was there just for a sense of security, because we had the internal bands that would jump into the house and rob them, abuse women,” Gezdari remembered .

THE POLITICAL JOURNEY

Gezdari, a 42-year-old businesswoman and single mother, is on the shortlist of three to be the Tory candidate for London mayor.

Conservative members will receive their ballot papers on Monday to decide whether she, former Foreign Secretary Sir James Cleverly, or former Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye should run for mayor in 2028.

She admits she is the “wildcard” option for the Tories.

Her family’s connection with the UK began in 1982, two years before she was born, when her father Edmond, a former professional footballer, was playing for Belfast club Linfield in the European Cup.

Linfield offered him a contract, which he signed. But his hopes of escaping the Communist regime were short-lived. “He got a call from somebody from the government in Albania saying, ‘if you do accept and you stay, your entire family will be persecuted. Your mum, your brother, your dad, your sister. We’ve got a place already in the mountains.’ He had to go back even though he was passionate about football and this was the biggest opportunity of his life,” she said .

THE POLITICS

Gezdari says her childhood shaped her political beliefs, which is why she studied politics at Bologna University, where one of her lecturers was former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

She is campaigning on personal freedom, business growth, and law and order, with a focus on police patrols and crime hotspots.

“I want my son, if he wants to play football, to be able to sign with any country because he’s got the opportunity to do that and nobody’s going to put me to jail if he does,” she said .

She is critical of the current Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, accusing him of focusing on Brexit and slavery reparations instead of the issues facing Londoners.

“He’s focused on what happened 10 years ago with Brexit, and very passionate about apologising for the slavery and paying reparations, instead of looking at what the present looks like for Londoners. He should be worried about the 349,000 people unemployed in London,” she said .

WHY IT MATTERS

Sara Gezdari’s story is a reminder that the politics of safety and security are not abstract.

She grew up in a country where young girls were kidnapped, where gangs could break into homes, and where her mother kept an assault rifle by her bed as a last line of defence.

Now she wants to make London’s streets safer. ..Whether her experience qualifies her for the job is for Conservative members to decide.

But her story is a powerful one, and it speaks to a universal truth: the desire for safety is not a political abstraction. It is a basic human need. ValidViewNetwork reports.