Brit Hollywood actor revealed as Labour’s top choice to replace Sadiq Khan as London Mayor after knife crime campaign
ACTOR Idris Elba could take on his toughest role yet — as Labour want him to be next London Mayor.
The star, 52 — bad boy cop Luther in the BBC hit TV show — is the party’s preferred choice to replace Sadiq Khan.
Away from the screen, Idris is a campaigner and has worked with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on tackling knife crime.
Labour bigwigs say Idris is “top of our wish list” to be their next candidate to run for City Hall.
A senior party source told The Sun on Sunday: “Idris has star appeal — but he is also a thoughtful political campaigner.
“Labour have a choice about who we choose to run in London.
“We can pick a Labour insider and try to make them famous.
“Or we can pick someone famous aligned with Labour. Idris would be at the absolute top of our wish list.”
Idris was born and raised in Hackney, East London, and still lives in the area.
He joined Sir Keir in No 10 last year in a drive to stop youths getting sucked into gang violence.
The campaigner has called for the points of knives to be blunted in a bid to stop so many young lives being lost to stabbings.
Another Labour source said: “Idris is a long shot — but some in the party have talked about him.”
Mr Khan is expected to stand down ahead of the next London mayoral election, likely to be in 2028.
Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden has also been tipped as a possible candidate.
Labour MPs Dawn Butler, Stella Creasy and Rosena Allin-Khan are all eyeing up the London Mayor job.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy is another possible candidate.
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