Shadow London minister Sadiq Khan has topped a poll of Labour members asked to name their preferred 2016 Mayoral candidate.
The poll, conducted by LabourList, follows a recent YouGov survey which named Diane Abbott as the preferred choice of Labour supporters and Tessa Jowell as the choice of all Londoners.
Khan took 22% of the votes in the latest poll, 5 points ahead of Jowell and 7 points ahead of Abbott.
As with other named potential runners, the Tooting MP has yet to formally declare his candidacy but is understood to be interested in London’s top job.
He’s made a number of high profile interventions into the capital’s devolved politics, including attacking current Mayor Boris Johnson for closing Tube ticket offices.
Labour’s expected timetable for selecting a candidate means Khan would need to announce his desire for London’s top job just weeks after potentially being re-elected to Westminster.
Figures close to Khan have previously suggested he would remain an MP during Labour’s selection process and possibly during the mayoral campaign.
Despite this, he recently signalled his intention to condemn Johnson as a “part-time” Mayor should he re-enter Parliament before the end of his City Hall term.
