Lib-Dem says black and Asian voters have lost faith in the Mayor

The Liberal Democrat candidate said that far from having the black and Asian vote "sewn up" many groups had actually lost faith in the Mayor.

As the mayoral elections draw closer, there is a growing battle to court the "ethnic minority vote", with Boris Johnson claiming this week that he was the only candidate to unite London.

Mr Paddick told the Standard today: "Ken Livingstone tries to hijack ethnic minorities for political purposes. He leaned on the London Development Agency [which hands out grants] to give money to Afro-Caribbean organisations rather than any other minority organisations and he has seriously upset other people as a consequence, particularly the Asian community who felt they didn't get a fair deal."

His comments follow claims that the Mayor's former race adviser, Lee Jasper, encouraged the agency to give grant money to projects with links to his associates.

The former Met deputy assistant commissioner said the Mayor had also failed to help the Chinese community after a recent immigration raid in Chinatown left them feeling "hounded and persecuted".

Mr Paddick added that many Afro-Caribbean voters were disillusioned with policing policies. "You're four times more likely to be stopped and searched if you're black, seven times more likely outside London, and yet Ken says the police can do no wrong," he said.

A spokesman from the Mayor's campaign said: "Ken Livingstone is not going to take any lessons from a person like Brian Paddick with virtually no record of taking a stand when the chips are down for ethnic minorities - whether they be Black, Irish, Asians, Muslims or others.

"Ken Livingstone on the other hand has stood in defence of minority of communities when they have faced the most savage attacks."