Gavron: I turned down peerage

Former Labour mayoral candidate Nicky Gavron today claimed she had turned her back on a peerage in favour of a drive to make London a greener city.

Speaking out for the first time since she stepped down to make way for Ken Livingstone's expected return to party ranks, Ms Gavron said she would campaign with the Mayor on a joint "red-green" ticket.

She launched her new "big idea", a climate-change agency for the capital which will help meet Britain's targets for cutting greenhouse gases under the Kyoto treaty.

It would take whole neighbourhoods off the National Grid by enabling them to generate their own renewable energy as well as insulating homes.

She signalled that she had been offered a peerage by Tony Blair as part of the deal which saw her stand down as Labour candidate despite being officially selected last year.

She said: "I did think about Michael Meacher's old job (minister of state of the environment) but decided that it's more important if I can make things happen in London."

Ms Gavron is not an MP - so the only way she could have been given a government job would have been if Mr Blair gave her a seat in the House of Lords.

She added: "No quango is as good as democratic legitimacy in London. If I were to bale out to the Lords it would have looked pretty bad."

She claimed ministers were on board with her climate-change plans and said: "The red-green agenda is where Labour is going."

If Mr Livingstone is officially adopted as Labour's candidate and wins next year's elections, Ms Gavron would once again serve as his deputy.

Last week the way was paved for his return by the party's ruling National Executive Committee. He must pass a "loyalty test" and satisfy a five-person committee that he will be a team player before his return is rubberstamped by the NEC in January.

Ms Gavron, who claims the credit for London's congestion charge, says she has been an important brake on some of the Mayor's more controversial plans.

For example, she helped ensure that his plan to withdraw swathes of powers from local authorities and create five "super boroughs" for the capital never got off the ground.

She said of her decision to stand down and back Mr Livingstone: "I hope I got this right. You pick your terms, don't you? I don't know if I've burned my bridges. I think people need me to do a good job in the campaign and help get in the women's vote. Climate change is the most important issue facing us this century."