Coe urged to stand for London Mayor in move that could hit Manchester United
Lord Coe has been urged to challenge Sadiq Khan in the race to be London Mayor in a move that could cast doubt on his ability to help Manchester United build their new stadium.
Two-time Olympic champion and former Tory MP Coe is the current president of World Athletics, but is being urged to take on Khan in 2028.
The Daily Mail reports that private polling for Tory backers suggested Coe could beat the incumbent Khan, who may seek a fourth term as London Mayor in two years.
But Coe currently chairs the Mayoral Development Corporation and will collaborate on the construction of a new Old Trafford in Manchester, having previously led the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force.
His role as Mayor could distract from work with Manchester United, and could cause tension between what has been promised to be the “Wembley of the North” and Wembley Stadium itself – which would come under a London administrator’s remit.
One insider was quoted by the Mail as saying: “Londoners know Seb Coe as the gold medalist who helped bring the best Olympics of a generation to the city. He is a proven winner who has already delivered for the capital – putting him way ahead of the field.”
Lord Coe next move?
Manchester United previously stated that the Mayoral Development Corporation will have powers “to support the wider project aims around planning, land assembly, investment in infrastructure with the ultimate aim to deliver transformational change for the area”.
Coe was the MP for Falmouth and Camborne in the 1990s before being made a life peer in 2000. Five years later he became chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and chaired the committee three years later.
Following a successful London 2012 Olympics, Lord Coe became chair of the British Olympic Association before moving on to World Athletics a year ago.
He failed in his attempts last year to become the president of the International Olympic Committee, finishing third in the only round of voting behind winner Kirsty Coventry and runner-up Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs.
“Twenty years on from securing the Olympic and Paralympic Games for this country, I’m ready to help deliver a vision of equal scale and ambition. I can’t wait to get started,” Coe said of his appointment to the Mayoral Development Corporation last year.