Zac Goldsmith: I want to be pansexual mayor of London

Conservative Zac Goldsmith has said that he would like to be the "pansexual" mayor of London.

Speaking to Pink News, he said he took the term to mean that he would be "a mayor that can speak for everyone".

But his definition differs from the usual use of the term which is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as "not limited or inhibited in sexual choice with regards to gender or practice".

Asked if he would aim to be a "mayor for everyone", Mr Goldsmith said: "I would use the term pansexual here, if my understanding is correct. I would be the mayor for all of London.

"London is a beautiful, big, diverse city and needs a mayor that can speak for everyone."

Goldsmith said he "struggles" with the idea of compulsory sex education for London schoolchildren.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan sparked controversy last month when she rejected calls from four key House of Commons committees to make sex and relationship education compulsory in all English schools.

But the would-be mayor, who is hoping to be elected to replace Boris Johnson at City Hall on May 5, said he would draw the line at schools teaching children that being gay would mean they went to hell.

"For me that crosses a line," he said. "I mean it's not for me to accept or not, but I find it unacceptable that schools should be racially divisive, or religiously divisive or ethically divisive or sexually divisive. Anything that pits one part of the community against the other for me crosses the line."