Both Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith are uninspiring - we need a new charismatic Boris to invigorate London

I’d like Khan to ban women who work in public services from wearing the veil, confronting growing separatism head-on. Sadly there's little chance of that

Sadiq Khan, an amateur boxer since his teens, needs to come out fighting (Getty)

I’m proud to be a Londoner. This exhilarating, noisy, vibrant and crowded city is where I was born, educated and have worked ever since. London is in my DNA, so why can’t I be arsed to vote for the next Mayor this week?

The leading candidates in this election fail to inspire. There’s a strong argument that the person who runs London should be above politics - capable of championing the disparate elements that make the city unique: diverse faiths, social groups and different special interests - all united because they live in London and deserve to get the best out of the experience. A good example was Michael Bloomberg’s inspired term running New York. So why hasn’t London attracted candidates of a similar calibre?

Years ago, I worked for Bloomberg - he offered me a job on his TV channel after we met at a party. At their headquarters, his desk was on the floor with everyone else, there was no swanky executive office and he’d engage with anyone who had a good idea.

Zac Goldsmith has green credentials, and is an extremely nice person in the flesh, but (fatally) seems to lack drive. In the past, Sadiq Khan has been heavily involved in party politics, nominating Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader, and then voting for Andy Burnham. Before that, he ran Ed Miliband’s leadership campaign. I suspect he’s a political animal who doesn’t live in the real world, no matter how much he might go on about having a dad who drove buses and wooing his wife over a cheap meal at McDonald's. My grandfather drove trains, but I’m not claiming I know how to solve the London housing crisis. Khan’s plan to freeze Transport for London's fares for four years will cost a fortune - and trains are already full to capacity.

Neither of the two candidates has ever run a big business or led a large team of people. They both talk in generalities - more affordable housing, more police, protection for LGBT communities - which is as drearily predictable as dumb slogans like ‘make poverty history’ that state the bleeding obvious.

I’d like Khan to ban women who work in public services from wearing the veil - sadly, there’s little chance of that. He told the Evening Standard he was concerned about the growing number of women who cover their faces and wear burkas. "Eye contact matters," he said. But added: "You should be able to see the face, but it's not for me to tell women what to wear." The next Mayor of London needs to confront this growing separatism head-on.

Khan has accused Goldsmith of a “Donald Trump approach to politics, trying to divide communities, turn them against each other", but London needs a man or woman with charisma and a personality as big as Boris, Bloomberg or (dare I say it) Trump to do precisely that - and none of the mayoral candidates appear to have that magic touch.