The Hackney MP announced her intention to stand last December and is one of an expected slate of candidates which also includes follow MP David Lammy, transport expert Christian Wolmar and former MP Dame Tessa Jowell.
Confirming her bid, Ms Abbott said: “Hard times call for a campaigning Mayor. Now more than ever our city needs a Mayor who will stand up for the interests of those increasingly left behind.
“But, as the MP for Hackney, I have always worked to bring all our communities together. And that is the kind of Mayor that I will be.
“Above all I will be the genuinely independently minded Mayor that London needs.”
Abbott’s campaign team says she’ll set out her policies over the coming weeks but indicated they’ll focus on affordable housing, the cost of living and “the importance of working with business to meet London’s challenges.”
Of the four Mayoral elections held since the role was created in 2000, Labour has won just one. Following last week’s general election defeat the party will be hoping to improve on their record to show it’s on the path back to office.
