George Galloway ‘may run for London mayor in 2016’

RESPECT MP George Galloway has said he may quit Parliament in 2015 to run as candidate for mayor of London.

File photo of George Galloway, who claims he may run in London's Mayoral elections in 2015. Picture: PA

Mr Galloway said he was considering a bid for the mayoralty in the 2016 election in a bid to escape the “tedium” of Parliament, where he is Respect’s only MP.

He said he discussed his plans with Ed Miliband at a meeting in January, which the Labour leader said was devoted to an upcoming vote on boundary changes.

The Bradford West MP revealed earlier this year that he was mulling over the possibility of a challenge to Boris Johnson at the 2016 poll.

Speaking to Total Politics magazine, Mr Galloway - who was a Labour MP for 16 years before being expelled from the party in 2003 - said he found Parliament “2% terrifying, and 98% tedium”.

And he added: “I’m interested in running for the mayor of London in 2016 but I haven’t decided.

“I like elections more than I like serving. I relish them in the way most politicians don’t, and this is the only mass popular election that there is here.

“Seven million people have the right to vote in it; it’s the next best thing to a presidential election that you’re ever going to get in Britain. So, I relish running for the office, and the opportunity finally to be in power over substantial sets of important tasks in a city as great as London is obviously attractive.”