WANTAGE MP Ed Vaizey has apparently ruled himself out of the race for London Mayor once and for all, after a year of speculation.

News website HuffPost UK announced yesterday that it could exclusively reveal the news after speaking to the former culture minister.

The website reported that Mr Vaizey admitted: "I was never really planning to run."

The Conservative, who previously said he could 'thump' current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in an election, apparently told the HuffPost there were 'much more talent people' who could do the job.

When asked who, he revealed he was backing Justine Greening to go for the role in 2020, although it is far from clear that the former Education Secretary will seek the nomination.

The revelation comes after bookmakers Ladbrokes said just last month that Mr Vaizey was joint second-favourite for the next mayor of the capital behind current London mayor Sadiq Khan and level pegging with Labour MP David Lammy.