George Galloway Would Make Russia Today Presenter Max Keiser His Mayoral Adviser

    Keiser would become the politician's economic spokesperson if Galloway were to be elected mayor of London.

    George Galloway's campaign to become mayor of London will focus on attacking London's banking sector and have a "large emphasis on City corruption", according to his potential economic spokesperson.

    "He's focused on the corruption in the City of London, and by extension, the Bank of England," Max Keiser told BuzzFeed News. "George and I have been talking about this for several years. With George as mayor we can get the job done of eliminating corrupt City bankers and regulators and in so doing, pave the way for more jobs, more growth, and a more diversified economy; one that does not rely so much on financialisation and speculation."

    Galloway decided to run for mayor earlier this month after losing his Bradford West seat at the general election. On Friday the politician announced that Keiser, a London-based American journalist with his own show on the Kremlin-backed RT TV channel, would become his economic spokesperson if he wins.

    Keiser said a "full policy agenda" would have to wait until Galloway's campaign launch next Sunday. But while Galloway is best known for his anti-war stance, the journalist said the politician would focus on cracking down on financial crime: "This would partially be done by combining the City of London and Metropolitan police forces, with the combined force having the added role of 'eliminating corrupt City bankers'."

    He also suggested Galloway may promote bitcoin as a way of undermining traditional financial institutions.

    Keiser insisted Galloway has a good chance of winning the contest, despite bookmakers offering long odds of 40/1 on this eventuality: "George is a well-known figure internationally and this counts in a mayoral race. He's cosmopolitan in a way London voters may ultimately decide is very appealing. He reminds me a bit of former NYC mayor Fiorello La Guardia."

    "Labour is, for all intents and purposes, dead," Keiser added. "Same too for [the Liberal Democrats]."

    Although the Conservative candidates for the mayoral race have yet to all put themselves forward, Kaiser strongly believes his friend Zac Goldsmith will be chosen as the party's candidate.

    "I'm sticking with the prediction I made more than a year ago," he said. "Conservatives will put up my friend Zac Goldsmith. I worked for Zac as a columnist at The Ecologist." He also said that the fact that Goldsmith was a "pragmatic" politician could mean he was more likely to be selected.