Tony Blair is to meet Labour's candidate for the mayor of London this week amid fresh speculation that Downing Street wants her to stand down in favour of Ken Livingstone.

The prime minister's talks with Nicky Gavron come after David Blunkett, the home secretary, said that Livingstone was "very different from the man I dealt with 30 years ago".

If Gavron agrees to step aside, Labour's National Executive Committee will still need to approve the mayor's readmission and then order another selection process.