The Living Wage campaign is now a national movement, but London is the most expensive place to live in the UK.
The stance the next London Mayor takes on the Living Wage remains crucial. The Living Wage campaign was started by families in East London struggling to make ends meet in the capital on a minimum wage.
Ever rising transport and property costs mean the Mayor of London's commitment to a London Living Wage is as important now as it was in 2001 when the campaign began, and in 2005 when the Living Wage Unit was set up within the GLA to independently set and regulate the London Living Wage.
An increasing number of businesses across the capital recognise the ethical and business benefits of choosing to pay a Living Wage. The new Mayor should offer leadership to responsible businesses and a firm commitment to this policy.
We have collated the Living Wage manifesto pledges made by Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone, Brian Paddick and Jenny Jones so you can make your own mind up, who would be the best Living Wage Mayor?
Join the debate on twitter #LivingWageMayor
Boris Johnson
"The London Living Wage has helped many Londoners and has put over £60 million more in their pockets since 2005. To make sure work pays and to reduce in-work poverty, I have increased and championed the London Living Wage.
When I was elected, just 27 companies offered the London Living Wage. Despite London's difficult economic climate, I have increased that number to over 100, and also increased the wage by a record amount. I have ensured that the London Living Wage is paid across the GLA Group and is now standard practice across the financial and professional services sector.
I will continue to champion the London Living Wage, pushing private and public sector employers to pay at least this level to all of their workers in London, with the aim of increasing the number of companies offering the wage to 250 by the end of my next term.
I will also lobby the Government to adopt it across Whitehall."
View the full manifesto here
Ken Livingstone
"I will use all available levers to encourage every employer in London to adopt the London Living Wage (which I introduced in 2005), so that it becomes the norm rather than the exception. It will be a condition of any major procurement for firms seeking to provide goods or services to the GLA group.
I will encourage every London borough council to support the London Living Wage. Labour Islington and Lewisham are the latest to do so, but not a single Tory controlled council has currently signed up and the Tory Mayor has done nothing to try and persuade them."
View the full manifesto here
Brian Paddick
"No one working in, or for the GLA through contractors will be paid below the London Living Wage. All London's boroughs and the Corporation of London must do the same and lead by example. We will name-and-shame large employers in London who don't pay the London Living Wage or use exploitative zero-hour contracts."
View the full manifesto here
Jenny Jones
"The National Minimum Wage is too low in London, where one in ten full-time workers and two in every five part-time workers are paid less than they need to secure a minimum acceptable quality of life.
We will: Promote the LivingWage Foundation's Employer Mark in the private sector, get public sector employers like councils andWhitehall round a table to shame them all into signing up, and lobby the Government to increase the National Minimum Wage."
View the full manifesto here