Labour MP says London needs ethnic minority Mayor

Labour MP Margaret Hodge has stepped out of the race for London Mayor, but not before she announced the need for an ethnic minority to candidate within the party.

The 70 year-old MP for Barking told the Evening Standard that she will be backing either David Lammy or Sadiq Khan after current Mayor Boris Johnson steps down from the position in 2016.

“I actually think the time is right for us to have a non-white mayor,” she said. “London is a diverse city but we are poor at representation. But let’s wait and see what the candidates say they can do for London.”

Currently there are three Labour ethnic minority candidates vying for the Mayoral position, and David Lammy appears to be a favourite.

Last month Lammy criticised his own party who he believed were trying to ‘out-kip UKIP’ after they released a poster depicting the party’s new ‘tough stance on immigration.

“I have seen London from all angles,” Lammy stated on why he wants to become Mayor It’s a long way from Tottenham to City Hall and the son of a single mother, but I want a London where everyone has the opportunities that I have had in my life,”

“I want to continue to represent the people of Tottenham but I realise now that there is actually another stage, the mayoralty, where I can represent their interests and other Londoners and start to speak about the issues and actually do something about them.”