LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson faced ridicule yesterday after he slammed the wealth gap less than 24 hours after attacking affordable housing in the capital. 

Mr Johnson, who is expected to run for Tory leader before the 2020 elections, called for more government investment in transport, housing and education as a way to drive social mobility.

But London Assembly members were quick to spot the contradictions, as he was recently exposed drafting plans to cap the number of affordable houses built in London. 

“Boris Johnson is right to say the public will not tolerate the growing gap between rich and the poor,” said Labour AM Fiona Twycross.

“What they also won’t tolerate is the growing gap between the mayor’s rhetoric and his record. “Despite ‘championing’ causes like the living wage, under his stewardship the proportion of jobs paying less than the London living wage has increased from 13.2 to 19.4 per cent. 

“That means that on Boris Johnson’s watch 917,000 Londoners are being paid less than is needed to live in the capital.”

Property Week magazine revealed on Thursday that the mayor was planning to fix the upper limit of affordable homes built in London’s “key opportunity areas” at 25 per cent. 

Local authorities would lose the ability to negotiate the number of affordable homes built by property developers to any number above a quarter of the site’s size. 

Mr Johnson’s plans would also mock a recent High Court decision to trash the government’s planning guidance, which exempted smaller developments from building any affordable homes at all.