Dame Tessa Jowell today launched her bid to become the next Mayor of London.
In a speech to supporters at No. 6 Somerleyton Road the former Dulwich and West Norwood MP announced she will be running to become Labour’s London mayoral candidate in 2016.
Jowell said she wants to build “One London – where we all share in our city’s success” and promised to tackle the housing crisis “head on” if elected.
She was MP for Dulwich from 1992 to 1997 and Dulwich and West Norwood from 1997 until she stood down at this year’s general election.
In her speech she said: said: “My ambition – our ambition – is to make London greater still. To build One London, where every Londoner has the opportunity and security to succeed, where Londoners have a quality of life to rival anywhere in the world, where no Londoner is left behind.
She said it is “at the risk of being two cities” with more “luxury flats than ever but fewer than half the homes we need for Londoners.”
“It’s not enough for the Mayor to exhort others to build homes. We’ve tried that – it hasn’t worked. The next Mayor needs to take the lead, building thousands of homes that Londoners can afford on the vast swathes of land that the Mayor owns.
“On day one of my mayoralty, I will establish Homes for Londoners – a housing equivalent of Transport for London – led by a Homes Commissioner. Homes for Londoners will actively build homes as well as plan the development that London badly needs.”
Jowell joins David Lammy, Dianne Abbott, Sadiq Khan and Christian Wolmar in the race to be Labour’s London mayoral candidate in 2016.
