David Lammy Wants To Be Labour's London Mayoral Candidate

Lammy Hopes To Be Labour's London Mayoral Candidate
Labour Party member of parliament for Tottenham, David Lammy, is pictured following a meeting with the metropolitan police in London on January 9, 2014. North London community leaders met with representatives of the metropolitan police to discuss the previous day's inquest verdict that the 2011 killing of suspected gangster Mark Duggan was lawful. Duggan's family and supporters reacted with fury to the verdict and vowed to continue fighting for justice for the father of six, whose death sparked
Labour Party member of parliament for Tottenham, David Lammy, is pictured following a meeting with the metropolitan police in London on January 9, 2014. North London community leaders met with representatives of the metropolitan police to discuss the previous day's inquest verdict that the 2011 killing of suspected gangster Mark Duggan was lawful. Duggan's family and supporters reacted with fury to the verdict and vowed to continue fighting for justice for the father of six, whose death sparked
BEN STANSALL via Getty Images

Labour MP David Lammy has announced he is running to be Labour's next candidate for Mayor of London.

The Tottenham MP, who served as universities minister in the last Labour government, told the Evening Standard he wants to ensure the capital is a "city of opportunity" for all.

Lammy is likely to be among half-a-dozen senior figures competing for the party's candidacy in 2016 - potentially including shadow justice minister Sadiq Khan and ex-Olympics minister Dame Tessa Jowell.

"The kind of mayoralty that I want is one that extends opportunity to all Londoners," Lammy said. "At its best this is a city of opportunity, as it was for my parents. But I worry whether that prosperity is now available to everyone."

Lammy said Tory incumbent Boris Johnson, who is standing down in 2016, and former mayor Ken Livingstone were both flawed because they appealed to "part of London and not for all".

"I am in the centre of British politics," he added.

Lammy said his policies would include higher council tax bands for more expensive London homes and a cap on rents paid by tenants.

He also refused to rule out targeting homes worth £1 million or less with new levies, which would mark a major step further than what Labour's shadow chancellor Ed Balls' suggestion of a mansion tax on homes worth £2 million or more.

In response, Tory MP Bob Neill said: “If Labour win the next election the message is clear – they are going to tax your family home. With Ed Miliband in Downing Street and David Lammy in City Hall, hardworking taxpayers would be hit right in the pocket.

"Labour simply haven’t learned their lesson: they taxed ordinary families to the brink last time they were in power – and they would do it all over again.”

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