Banks poised to stand for Mayor

Tony Banks is set to enter the mayoral race in what could become a bruising contest with his former ally Ken Livingstone.

Friends of the West Ham MP and former sports minister today confirmed he is poised to seek selection as the Labour candidate. Most now think the field is wide open because Mr Livingstone faces an uphill task in his bid to re-join Labour and become its candidate.

The National Executive Committee discuss the application on 23 July but party insiders say the odds are 60-40 against Mr Livingstone being re-admitted.

Mr Banks, 59, admitted at the weekend that influential union figures are urging him to stand. A candidate like Mr Banks would be welcomed by the party as someone who could match the Mayor's populist appeal.

But he would also help the party to show it has heavyweight figures to compensate for the absence of Mr Livingstone. A selection contest featuring candidates such as Mr Banks and perhaps Trevor Phillips, the London Assembly chairman, is seen as one which would give members a genuine high-quality choice.

A Banks candidacy might also have the added feature of pitting him against a Mayor for whom he has little regard, for if Mr Livingstone is rejected by Labour he will stand again as an independent.

Though both men served on the Greater London Council, with Mr Livingstone as leader and Mr Banks as chairman, the MP has since become one of Mr Livingstone's harshest critics.

He has claimed for many years that Mr Livingstone cannot be trusted and was one of the collection of MPs and ministers who led the onslaught against the Mayor when he changed his mind and ran as an independent.