Boris backs Hyde Park slavery memorial

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The Mayor, who has said he is descended from Russian slaves, wants to erect a statue to honour millions of Africans sold in the trade.

A design was unveiled today at City Hall, but volunteers behind the campaign need to raise £1.5 million for a permanent sculpture. The group, Memorial 2007, has already secured a space in the Rose Garden at Hyde Park.

Mr Johnson said: "It is important that this era in our history is never forgotten. Hyde Park is a fitting site for a permanent memorial to the millions who lost their lives and the courageous people who fought to end the brutal transatlantic slave trade."

The Mayor has previously said his great-great-grandmother was a slave. During his election campaign in May Mr Johnson said: "I am the proud offspring of Turkish immigrants-I want you to know that my great-great-grandmother was a slave, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr Livingstone.

"She was a Circassian slave [from a region in southern Russia], and she was sold: my great-great-grandfather literally purchased her."

The Mayor is now looking at the possibility of providing public funding for the statue.

The design - unveiled at City Hall in the lead up to World Slavery Day on 23 August - will be on display until 1 December.