Former New York mayor Bloomberg may run for London mayor

NEW YORK, April 5. /TASS/. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg may run for London Mayong in 2016, US media reported on Sunday.

British conservatives seek to draft Bloomberg to run for London mayor. "It would be an incredible coup for London if Mike Bloomberg could be persuaded to run for mayor here," Steve Hilton, a trusted advisor to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, said. "His kind of pragmatic, problem-solving leadership is exactly what London needs," The New York Post quoted Hilton as saying.

According to the newspaper, Bloomberg discussed the possibility with current London Mayor Boris Johnson, his close friend. It is worth noting that Johnson himself is a native New Yorker. He even joked once that he and Bloomberg could "swap" jobs.

Bloomberg served as New York Mayor three consecutive terms - from 2002 to 2013. On January 1, 2014, he was succeeded by Bill de Blasio. Anglophile Bloomberg spends a lot of time in London and invests big money into its development. He built "Bloomberg Palace," a two-tower skyscraper and sits on the board of the Serpentine Galleries. He also owns a $20 million town house in the British capital. In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed Bloomberg with an honorary knighthood "for his entrepreneurial and philanthropic work in the UK."

However, Bloomberg is not a citizen of the UK or the European Union, which is a prerequisite for running for mayor of London. The media say this should not be a problem, as he has already invested at least $745 million in the UK, which could speed up the process of obtaining a British citizenship for him. Also, Bloomberg’s ex-wife Susan Brown and his daughters Emma and Georgina are British citizens.