The battle for Boris Johnson’s crown as Mayor of London starts today as Labour MP David Lammy becomes the first political figure to throw his hat into the ring.
The former minister used an exclusive interview with Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands to launch his bid for the keys to City Hall in 2016.
“The kind of mayoralty that I want is one that extends opportunity to all Londoners,” he declared.
“At its best this is a city of opportunity, as it was for my parents. But I worry whether that prosperity is now available to everyone.”
Mr Lammy’s early declaration puts him ahead of at least half a dozen Labour heavyweights tipped to fight for the party’s nomination next year. Others thinking of running include former Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan and backbencher Diane Abbott.
Tottenham MP Mr Lammy would be London’s first black Mayor if he wins. One of five children of immigrant parents, he grew up near the Broadwater Farm estate but became a Harvard scholar, a barrister and Government minister.
Presenting himself as a unifying figure, he said Mr Johnson and ex-mayor Ken Livingstone were both flawed because they appealed to “part of London and not for all”. He insisted: “I am in the centre of British politics.”
In his first big policy package, unveiled today, he proposes higher council tax bands for more expensive London homes and a cap on rents paid by tenants .
His radical blueprint for housing policies would mean bigger bills for many London homeowners, raising billions for affordable housing schemes. Mr Lammy refused to rule out targeting homes worth £1 million or less.
That means it would hit many more Londoners than Ed Balls’s plan for a mansion tax on homes worth £2 million or more.
Existing council tax bands, which are based on 1991 valuations, stop rising at £320,001, which Mr Lammy says is unfair.
“A sensible government would re-evaluate these rates and introduce new council tax bands on high-value properties in recognition of the housing boom that has taken place in the intervening two decades,” he wrote. “The result would be a much more progressive property tax system, under which a family in Barnet or Bromley would no longer pay the same rate of council tax as the owners of a Belgravia mansion.”
For renters, Mr Lammy calls for a lid on the level of rent landlords can charge. The maximum would be “20 per cent higher than similar properties in the area”.
His 45-page blueprint echoes Labour leader Ed Miliband’s plan to limit annual rent rises. It says: “The unfair practice of landlords increasing rents on a whim by unjustifiable amounts, thereby evicting families, needs to be regulated.”
A compulsory register of landlords would “help to identify rogue landlords who continue to inflict misery on thousands of tenants across London”.
David Lammy's housing report can be viewed at: http://www.londonhousingreport.com
