Sadiq Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting, has launched his campaign to be the party’s candidate for the mayor of London in 2016.
Khan’s announcement comes just two days after he stood down as Labour’s shadow justice secretary and shadow minister for the capital.
His announcement also comes on the same day that the party’s selection contest for its 2016 mayoral candidate official begins.
David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, who many think is weighing up a leadership bid following Ed Miliband’s resignation, became the first Labour figure to announce their mayoral aspirations when he came forward as a candidate in September 2014.
The writer and transport expert Christian Wolmar has also officially declared his intention to stand in the party contest.
Dame Tessa Jowell and Diane Abbott, both female London MPs, are also expected to announce their candidacies.
Labour will fancy its chances in next year’s election. Boris Johnson, the current mayor, will step down next year following his election as an MP for Uxbridge.
With no clear Conservative figure to replace the charismatic mayor, Labour, which increased its number of MPs in the capital at the election to 45 out of 73, with 44 per cent of the vote, will look to win back the mayoral position, which Ken Livingstone held between 200 and 2008.