Openly gay businessman Ivan Massow last week announced his bid for London mayor.

He is the first Tory candidate to enter the contest, which takes place in 2016.

In promoting his candidacy during a Gaydio radio interview, Massow, a recovering alcoholic sober since 2008 and a self-made millionaire, said that the London gay scene has a drug problem.

“You can't ignore the fact that on the London gay scene, especially gay men more than the gay ladies, there is a huge drug issue,” he said.

“Unsafe sex has gone to a completely new level. And weirdly it's quite hard for a straight mayor probably to deal with some of that because it would come over as homophobic.”

“We have a place at the seat of society. … [We're] equal members of society but we don't have a blueprint for how we're supposed to behave as members of society.”

“We need to engage with our own community,” the 47-year-old Massow added. “How do we want to be considered? We need to grow up collectively.”