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 Flying Eze 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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