Ken: I want to be Labour's man

Ken Livingstone said today he wants to run for re-election as Mayor as an official Labour candidate in two years.

As he hinted that he would press ahead with his controversial £5 levy on drivers entering central London despite the threat to his electoral prospects, he said he would prefer to be standing with Tony Blair's official endorsement.

Mr Livingstone said: "I have said to the Government that I would be delighted to be the Labour candidate, but I have made it absolutely clear that I am seeking re-election."

He was expelled from the party for five years in 2000 for standing as an independent candidate in the first election where he defeated Frank Dobson, the party's official choice.

Labour would either have to shorten his ban, or strike a deal which would allow him to run for Mayor and then let him back in the party afterwards.

Mr Livingstone, odds-on favourite to win the election, would then give Labour control of London, the country's biggest devolved authority.

He said: "The Labour Party has put this issue on hold until after the London borough elections. Once they see how badly they have done in May, Tony Blair will sit down and decide what he is going to do."

He said today he was reluctant to bow to pressure for a public enquiry into his plans for congestion charges. "This has been the biggest single issue for the last three-and-a-half years and we have got to the point where we have to suck it and see."

In addition, Mr Livingstone said he could find no legal grounds for a challenge to the Government's proposed public-private partnership deal for London Underground. However, he claimed he had received documents showing there would be virtually no improvements in the first seven-andahalf years of the 30-year contracts.