Lord Sugar has urged his Twitter followers not to vote for Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral election

Labour peer and star of TV’s The Apprentice, Lord Sugar, has urged his 1.8 million Twitter followers not to vote for Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral election.

Despite being in the same party as Mr Livingstone, Lord Sugar has defied leader Ed Miliband by telling people not to back the party’s City Hall candidate.

“I don’t care if Ed Miliband is backing Livingstone,” Lord Sugar wrote on Twitter . “I seriously suggest NO ONE votes for Livingstone in the Mayoral elections.”

He added that the contest between Tory Boris Johnson and Mr Livingstone was a “real issue”.

“Livingstone must NOT get in on 3rd May,” Lord Sugar wrote.

A senior Labour source indicated Lord Sugar would not face disciplinary action over the comments.

“There is a long history of Lord Sugar and Ken Livingstone not being the best of friends,” the source said.

“Lord Sugar was not recommending people vote for any of Ken’s opponents.

“He is a Labour peer but Lord Sugar’s views are very much his own.”