Diane Abbott says she wants to be Mayor of London

The Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington is standing on a left-of-centre platform

Labour MP Diane Abbott has entered the race to be Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London.

Ms Abbott, who represents part of Hackney in Parliament, is standing on a left-of-centre platform.

She says she wants to introduce rent controls for the private sector and ramp up house building on brownfield sites.

“London needs a mayor who can stand up to vested interests and prevent this city from separating into islands of wealth and opportunity for some and islands of deprivation and despair for others,” she wrote on her campaign website.

“Professionals earning a good wage in London aren’t immune — the prohibitive cost of London is in the front of their mind for young graduates in their first jobs.”

Ms Abbott ran against Ed Miliband for leader of the Labour party in 2010 and served as a shadow health minister under the former leader.

She is joined by Sadiq Khan who also declared he would run this afternoon.

Other hopefuls for Labour’s mayoral candidate include Christian Wolmar, a Labour activist and transport experts, and David Lammy the MP for Tottenham.

Tessa Jowell, the former Olympics minister, has said she is planning to run but has not officially announced her candidacy.

The winner of Labour's mayoral primary election, which non-party members can vote in, will take on an as yet unknown Conservative candidate as well as those of other parties.

Boris Johnson is not expected to stand for another term at the next Mayor of London election, which will be held in just under a year's time on 5 May 2016.