Banksy comes out for Ken Livingstone

Banksy, the graffiti artist who has become a favourite of such celebrities as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and whose latest works go under the hammer at Bonhams next week, has thrown his support behind London Mayor Ken Livingstone in his bid to keep his job in the May election.

Banksy won't be tagging 'Vote for Ken' slogans across the capital's Underground staions; instead he will be creating a bespoke piece of artwork that will be auctioned to raise money for Livingstone's campaign.

Banksy joins 20 other artists, including 2004 Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller, Mona Hatoum, Marc Quinn and Antony Gormley, who will be handing over artwork for the sale. (Continued below)

It is unclear whether any of the art will be Ken-themed: Gormley could perhaps recreate his Angel of the North with Ken's visage, or Quinn might make a sculpture of the two-time London mayor out of Livingstone's own blood.

The injection of funds will be much appreciated by the Mayor, who has suddenly found himself with a real scrap on his hands with his Tory rival, Boris Johnson. The journalist and MP for Henley has equalled Livingstone in the face-recognition stakes and is raising serious amounts of money himself.

Both men have come under fire in recent weeks for their handling of funding, with Livingstone accused of using public money and staff to defend his record, while Johnson has been censured for failing to declare £234,000 of donations to his campaign from City tycoons.