Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has dismissed suggestions that he would aspire to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader if he is forced to resign over the Beergate scandal.

Mr Khan also became the latest Labour official to try to draw a parallel between Sir Keir’s Beergate controversy and Boris Johnson’s Partygate affair.

‘It’s a good contrast between Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner’s honesty and Johnson and [Rishi] Sunak’s,’ he continued.

‘The general public should be aware that one of these personalities, Boris Johnson, presided over a law-breaking society.’

‘The other person has the decency to reply, ‘You know what, you know what? I’ll resign if a fixed-penalty notice is issued.’

In April 2021, Durham Police are still investigating accusations of a lockdown violation at Sir Keir’s Friday night gathering, which included Ms Rayner.

The Labour leader was pictured sipping a beer as he shared a takeaway with colleagues at what he has repeatedly insisted was a ‘work event’.

Sir Keir has claimed he and Labour officials returned to their duties after the boozy curry in the run-up to local council elections and the Hartlepool by-election.

At the time of the Durham event, England was in the ‘Step 2’ rules that banned people from gathering indoors with people not from your own household.

There was, however, an exception for ‘work purposes.’

Sir Keir argued that the occasion was ‘absolutely lawful,’ dismissing ‘ridiculous’ analogies to Covid’s rule-breaking in Downing Street.

Last Monday, Labour announced that both Sir Keir and Ms Rayner had received police questionnaires over the Durham rally.

Fears that Sir Keir will be punished for Beergate have intensified, according to the party, after Durham Police indicated that they are following strict national guidelines on lockdown offenses.

Meanwhile, Mr Khan continued to put pressure on the Metropolitan Police to explain why penalties were issued in the Partygate case.

Despite being present at other occasions for which fines were levied, the Prime Minister received only one FPN – for his 56th birthday bash in Number 10 in June 2020.

In response to images of Downing Street parties disclosed in the report by senior civil servant Sue Gray, Mr Khan argued Scotland Yard’s logic for fining people was ‘strange.’

‘I accept that does appear unusual in light of the images we’ve now seen and the knowledge we now have of who received a fixed-penalty notice and who didn’t,’ the London mayor added.

‘What is undisputed is there was a culture of law-breaking in Downing Street. No other property in the country received this many fines.’

Mr Khan suggested ongoing legal action, being brought in part by former Met Police chief and Liberal Democrat peer Brian Paddick, could shed more light on how and why Partygate fines were issued.

‘What we don’t want is the perception to be given that it is one rule for them, the rule-makers, and one rule for the rest of us,’ he said.

‘What I’ve not seen and what Lord Paddick will maybe see in the court case is the evidence for each individual case.

‘I’ve just seen the one photograph we saw in relation to Boris Johnson raising his glass – clearly a party atmosphere.

‘I haven’t seen the questionnaire responses or the other images.’ As a result, it is proper and proper for the court action to proceed and for this to be investigated.’

Lord Paddick’s lawyers say it’s wise to seek judicial review of Scotland Yard’s ‘apparent failure’ to ‘adequately probe or investigate at all’ the PM’s participation in three Number 10 leaving dos.

In the wake of Ms Gray’s report, Mr Khan urged that the Met Police provide a “full explanation” of their Partygate choices.

Tory rage erupted in response to his actions, with heated charges of political intervention in police operations leveled by the capital’s mayor.