Top Labour candidate David Lammy tells ITV News an SNP deal is possible

Video report by ITV News' Chris Ship

Senior Labour candidate and London Mayor contender David Lammy has told ITV News that a post election deal with the SNP is possible.

Mr Lammy said Labour are "fighting for a victory" and "can win this election".

The Labour leadership has consistently said the party is not prepared to broker a deal with the SNP after the election, in the belief that it can win a majority.

"But clearly, after the general election, you would forge common alliance with parties that you can actually do business with and the SNP must be part of that story," Mr Lammy added.

"I still think Labour can form the next government and that's what I am fighting for. But yes, there is common ground with other parties and the SNP would be included in that and we may need to enter into discussion after the general election."

Most analysts and polls to date indicate that the major parties may struggle to win an outright majority, meaning there would have to be talks behind closed doors to come up with a solution.

When pressed, Mr Lammy went on to say: "Look, I want a progressive government. I want it to be a Labour government but in the event that it's not a Labour government, clearly there is common ground between us on the centre left and that would include the SNP."

Such a deal would either mean a formal coalition like the current Conservative and Liberal Democrat administration, or alliances that are brokered on a vote by vote basis.

David Cameron has argued that an SNP deal with Labour would mean chaos in Westminster, while Nick Clegg has said that such a deal would lead to a Rainbow coalition whereby multiple parties would be needed to prop up a minority government.