Former Arsenal and England defender Sol Campbell has confirmed that he wants to become the next Mayor of London.

The 40-year-old will take part in a hustings event with his fellow candidates for the Conservative nomination on July 4.

Current Mayor of London Boris Johnson is expected to leave his post next year.

"I'm going in with my eyes wide open. I know I'm not going to be a frontrunner," Campbell told The Sun. "But I look at people who have been in politics for five, 10, 15 years, and muck up, you see them muck up and think, 'You guys are supposed to be pro!'

"If we keep thinking about football, we're not going to do anything. We are dealing with people's lives here. I want to change London for everybody."

Campbell won eight major honours during his professional career before officially retiring in 2012.