Jeremy Corbyn refuses to rule out a bid for London mayor

Jeremy Corbyn to take on Sadiq Khan? Ex-Labour leader refuses to rule out a bid for London mayor as an independent candidate as he lashes out at party

• The 74-year-old is ‘ruling nothing in and ruling nothing out’ over a City Hall bid

Jeremy Corbyn today refused to rule out a bid for London mayor as an independent candidate.

The ex-Labour leader insisted he was ‘ruling nothing in and ruling nothing out’ when quizzed about running for the capital’s top job.

The 74-year-old has sat as an independent MP in the House of Commons since being stripped of the Labour whip in October 2020.

Mr Corbyn has also been blocked by his successor as Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, from being the party’s candidate in his Islington North constituency at the general election.

London mayor Sadiq Khan is Labour’s candidate for next year’s election in the capital as he seeks a third term in City Hall.

But Mr Corbyn raised the possibility he could yet launch a campaign to take over from Mr Khan.

Jeremy Corbyn insisted he was ‘ruling nothing in and ruling nothing out’ when asked about running for London mayor 

Sadiq Khan, the current London mayor, is Labour’s candidate for next year’s election in the capital as he seeks a third term in City Hall

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash from Labour MPs after dropping a pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap

‘Let’s cross one bridge at a time, shall we?,’ the politician told LBC radio this morning when asked if he was considering a mayoral bid as an independent.

He added: ‘I’m ruling nothing in and nothing out at this moment.’ 

Mr Corbyn also used the radio interview to blast Sir Keir over dropping a pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The move has prompted a huge backlash against Sir Keir from Labour MPs.

He has also been attacked for his ‘broken promises’ by Jamie Driscoll, the mayor of North of Tyne.

He announced he was quitting Labour yesterday and would campaign for an expanded devolved role in the North East as an independent against the party.

Asked if he could copy Mr Driscoll’s example and stand as an independent candidate for London mayor, Mr Corbyn said: ‘Let’s cross one bridge at a time, shall we?

‘I respect Jamie Driscoll’s work – an incredible mayor – and he has made that decision because he believes that’s the only way he can take the policies forward.

‘I think we should concentrate on getting rid of poverty in our society and ending the two-child policy, it would be a very good start.’

Pressed on whether he would rule out a bid to lead City Hall, Mr Corbyn added: ‘I’m ruling nothing in and nothing out at this moment.

‘This interview is about child poverty in Britain and in London, where I represent a London constituency, there are high levels of child poverty – probably 40 per cent of the children in my constituency.

‘All across the North East, which Jamie represents, a third of all children across the whole of the region are living in poverty.

‘That has got to go and got to change and it’s the Labour Party that ought to be offering that pathway to change and it’s not doing it at the moment.’

Mr Corbyn has served as Islington North MP for more than 40 years but, in March, Sir Keir moved to formally block his predecessor from standing as an official Labour candidate at the general election.

The ex-Labour leader has been an independent MP since losing the party’s whip in 2020 after he said allegations of anti-Semitism during his time in charge had been exaggerated by political opponents.

Mr Corbyn has regularly hinted he could yet stand as an independent candidate against Labour in Islington North at the general election.

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