“London risks become two Londons” – find out what’s driving Tessa Jowell’s mayoral bid

Tessa Jowell has given a major interview with the Evening Standard, touching on what issues drive her ambition to become Mayor of London. It seems this largely comes down to two topics: inequality and childhood.

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life growing up in the capital is described as her “top priority”, a topic that has has been close to Jowell’s heart since her first job as a childcare officer in South London.

However, it is inequality that she expands on most: in particular her fears of the emergence of “two Londons”, a phrase that echoes the successful ‘tale of two cities’ campaign run by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“London risks becoming two Londons. We keep saying it’s the greatest city in the world, but it isn’t the greatest city if you are 22 and living out in the suburbs because you cannot afford all the excitement of the well-off young in London. I am not relaxed about very rich, globally mobile people buying property in London as if it is gold and then not contributing to the city. I want to bind this city together, not allow London to become two Londons.”

Jowell’s interviewer, Standard editor Sarah Sands, pushes her on the subject of her inability to be relaxed about the very rich, bringing up Peter Mandelson’s famous quip that he was “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich as long as they pay their taxes”.

To that, the former Olympics Minister replied:

“Am I completely relaxed? I am not sure I am intensely relaxed about the growing differential between those at the top and those at the bottom. I campaigned for the Living Wage, which is a mark of decency. If you take a business like John Lewis, the chairman Charlie Mayfield sets a ratio between what he earns and the people on the shop floor. We live in an age where people want to be proud of who they work for; you get greater resilience and loyalty. And consumers will vote with their feet if they think their favourite shops are not behaving well.”

She does though, find common ground with the second clause of the Mandelson quote, adding “And Uber should pay its taxes in this country! All the kids I know have Uber accounts, so why doesn’t the company pay its taxes here and be proper citizens?”

On similar ground, the article moves on to her time as a New Labour minister, and her depiction as a “Blairite”. Jowell disputes that this view of her will make her selection more difficult, opting to defend Labour’s record in power:

“There’s a lot of rewriting of history. Blair’s government introduced the national minimum wage, extended maternity pay, began Sure Start. Iraq casts a long shadow, but the belief now that he is some kind of warmonger scoundrel living in the shadows is completely untrue.”

Jowell is standing down as MP for Dulwich and West Norwood in May, having represented the constituency for 23 years. She confirmed that she would seek the Labour nomination for London Mayor back in November, and has consistently topped polls, as well as LabourList surveys. Rumours last week suggested that she was set to enter the House of Lords after the election, but sources have been unable to confirm this to LabourList.