The London mayoral race may be about to take a turn for the unusual, with the news that Morrissey has been approached to stand for mayor as the Animal Welfare party candidate. Not only that, but according to the website True to You – the outlet favoured by Morrissey as his conduit to the world – he “is considering the contest very seriously”.

There is a rich but chequered history of musicians turning politician, and Morrissey might hope to have more in common with Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, who became Australia’s minister for environmental protection, heritage and the arts, than with Screaming Lord Sutch, the rock’n’roll singer who became the perpetual joke candidate in British elections with his Monster Raving Loony party.

Morrissey issued a statement to True to You in which he said: “There must be a governmental voice against the hellish and archaic social injustice allotted to animals in the United Kingdom simply because those animals do not speak English.”

He added: “The abattoir is the modern continuation of the Nazi concentration camp, and if you are a part of the milk-drinking population, then you condone systems of torture,” and described chef Jamie Oliver as an “animal serial killer”.

“Social justice for animals is not much to demand,” he concluded, “because we are only asking humans to think rationally and with heart, even if being unable to hunt foxes and shoot birds would leave the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family with nothing else to do.”

Morrissey has previously expressed strong views about London. In 2007, he told NME: “With the issue of immigration, it’s very difficult because, although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.

“If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won’t hear an English accent. You’ll hear every accent under the sun apart from the British accent.”

The Animal Welfare party has confirmed it has asked Morrissey to stand. In order to appear on ballot papers, he will need to collect 330 signatures – 10 from each London borough.

Below is Morrissey’s full statement: