Brian Paddick on Lib-Dem shortlist for London mayor

Brian Paddick, the highest-ranking openly gay police officer, has been short-listed to run for the Liberal Democrats as a candidate for the Mayor of London against Ken Livingstone and Tory Boris Johnson.

Mr Paddick, who pioneered a scheme to relax the penalties for smoking cannabis in Lambeth, retired earlier this year.

According to Pink News, the ex-Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner first mentioned the possibility of standing for the post in May at the launch of The Way We Are Now, a collection of essays by the gay community.

Mr Paddick was named in the report on Thursday into the Stockwell shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian, who was killed by police hunting a terrorist suspect.

Mr Paddick told the inquiry he was one of several police officers who were told that the dead man was a "Brazilian tourist" while Sir Ian Blair, the Met Commissioner, gave a press conference saying the shooting was "directly linked to the ongoing anti-terrorist operation".

Mr Paddick clashed with Sir Ian's claims not to have known about the mistake, and Met chiefs are braced for more allegations. The report vindicated Mr Paddick's claims that two of Sir Ian's aides knew of rumours the wrong man had been shot within hours.

Liberal Democrat sources said: "We can confirm that we have been in talks with Brian Paddick and we hope and expect him to go forward for nomination as part of a full and open selection process."