Leading US socialist Kshama Sawant has launched a bid to export her campaign that scored a historic victory for higher wages in Seattle across the Atlantic.

Ms Sawant spoke in Britain for the first time on Saturday after her shock election to Seattle’s city council on a Socialist Alternative ticket last November.

Hundreds heard how that sparked a successful grassroots campaign for a $15 (£9.50) minimum wage in the city — the highest anywhere in the US.