Latest London Mayor poll shows rise in support for Khan and Hodge, but Jowell still leads

New polling for the London Mayoral race shows Tessa Jowell is still the most popular candidate among Labour supporters in London – and has even more support among Londoners as a whole. The retiring Dulwich and Norwood MP comes top of potential Labour candidates with 26%, no change from last month. When including non-Labour supporters, this figure rises to 28%.

However, Shadow London minister Sadiq Khan has seen a boost in his support, rising eight points to 19%. This appears to have come at the expense of David Lammy and Diane Abbott, who see their support drop by three and eight points respectively.

Margaret Hodge has also seen a boost to her chances, rising from 10% in December to 16% now. Doreen Lawrence, Andrew Adonis and Christian Wolmar all poll under 10%. The full preferences of Labour supporters, carried out by YouGov for the Evening Standard, are:

Jowell 26%, Khan 19%, Hodge 16%, Lammy 14%, Abbott 12%, Lawrence 8%, Adonis 4%, Wolmar 2%

Continuing tensions among the Mayoral candidates over Labour’s proposed Mansion Tax policy may account for some of the ups-and-downs. While Jowell and Hodge have raised concerns about it, they interventions have been relatively low-key compared to those of David Lammy and Diane Abbott – the latter clashing with Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy live on radio three weeks ago. Sadiq Khan is a big supporter of the policy, and his ratings have gone up: so could we be seeing a Mansion Tax effect on the race? Polling revealed by the Standard yesterday showed that Mansion Tax is viewed favourably among Labour supporters in the capital.

The big picture of this polling does seem to be Tessa Jowell command of support. To consistently receive over a quarter backing in an eight-way race is impressive, and a seven point lead looks formidable. Second preferences could play a big role: it is still unlikely that the peers named, Baroness Lawrence and Lord Adonis, will run, and how those votes are distributed will be important.