Dawn Butler to stand to be London Mayor if Khan stands down

Brent East MP Dawn Butler has announced her plans to stand to become the next Mayor of London should Sadiq Khan stand down.

Speaking to The Mirror, Butler said she would “love to be mayor of London” and said she would “pop my hat in the ring… once there’s a vacancy”.

She said: “Just having London the way I have experienced it and seen it and just making London wonderful for everyone and everyone being proud of London and being a Londoner… yeah, I’d love to be mayor of London.”

Butler has long been rumoured to be considering a bid for the job, with other contenders rumoured to include Stella Creasy, Florence Eshalomi, Emily Thornberry and Rosena Allin-Khan. Actor and knife crime campaigner Idris Elba is also said to be interested in a bid to become Labour’s candidate for mayor.

Recent polling for LabourList by Survation, put Allin-Khan as the potential favourite among London Labour members, with a +18 approval rating, compared to Florence Eshalomi with +13, Idris Elba on +6, Emily Thornberry with +2 and Dawn Butler on -3.

Current mayor Sadiq Khan has not yet indicated whether he plans to run for a historic fourth term when Londoners go to the polls in 2028.

The election will see a return to the supplementary vote system after the 2024 vote was held under first-past-the-post.

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