The flamboyant mayor of London, Boris Johnson steps down next year and one of the men vying to take over as Labour’s candidate is former England rugby international Derek Wyatt former MP for Sittingbourne in Kent.
Mr Wyatt who played one test for England as a wing has already said he wants London to capitalise on the success of staging the 2012 Olympic Games. His goal is to bring the 2026 Commonwealth Games to the city.
The Gold Coast is hosting the next Commonwealth Games in 2018 and then Durban, South Africa is expected to get the hosting rights for the 2022 event; although Edmonton in Canada may disagree.
“London has never had the Commonwealth Games, though they did host the British Empire Games in 1934,”( which evolved into the Commonwealth Games) Mr Wyatt said. “But after 2012 we have all the facilities to stage the most popular Commonwealth Games ever.”
Mr Wyatt also wants to see a sporting body along the lines of the Royal Society – the UK’s academy of sciences – set up in London. “The country has a fine reputation for hosting major events and it is high time sporty was accorded the same status deservedly enjoyed by science and the arts.”
Sport is expected to be used a serious political tool in the election for London’s next mayor as one of Mr Wyatt’s main rivals for Labour’s nomination s the former London Olympic Games board member and Olympics minister Tessa Jowell.
Can Wyatt deliver on the Commonwealth Games and what does Ms Jowell have up her sleeve. They say sport and politics don’t mix, but as has been proven many times in the past Politicians love to use sport to obtain what they want and the position of Mayor of London is an esteemed prize.
