Adonis throws support behind Tessa Jowell in London Mayor race

Andrew Adonis has announced he will be supporting Dame Tessa Jowell in her bid to win the Labour nomination for London Mayor. Labour peer and former minister Adonis has previously been talked about as a serious contender in the race.

But Adonis has told the London Evening Standard that he believes Jowell has the qualities to be an “outstanding mayor”:

“Tessa Jowell’s track record of planning and leading the 2012 Olympics shows that she has got that spirit and all of the qualities to be an outstanding mayor.”

“London needs to raise its game if it is going to tackle the housing crisis and prevent congestion becoming unbearable.”

“Tessa can do that because of her proven track record in establishing partnerships for change around an imperative for the city.”

It has seemed clear for some time that Adonis was not going to run – he has not put in the kind of high profile campaigning recently that other candidates have been doing, and scored just 3% in a recent LabourList survey – but admitted that he had considered going for the role.

He becomes the second would-be candidate to pull out of the running, following Margaret Hodge’s recent announcement, in which she appeared to rule out backing Jowell.

Adonis’ comments will fuel speculation that he could run on ‘joint ticket’ type campaign with Jowell, as we reported in September. In the Standard interview, Lord Adonis does not shy away from offering his opinions on what could be done to make transport better in the capital; commenting on cycling superhighways, reforming bus payments, and Crossrail 2. That he speaks so freely on the subject may suggest that he would take on a transport and infrastructure brief in a Jowell mayoralty.

The former Transport Secretary told the Standard he does not believe that the image of both he and Jowell as “Blairites” will stand in the way of her campaign: “The London Labour party has no Left-Right division,” he said. “The challenge is between action and inaction.”

Certainly, it will be interesting to see where his support now goes. Given their similar politics, and his unequivocal support for her candidacy, the likelihood would certainly be that the majority of it would go to Dulwich and West Norwood MP Jowell, who already holds a stable lead in polling.