THE candidates for the role of mayor of Hartlepool threw their hats into the ring yesterday - all vowing to get down to the serious business of politics.
Seven people, including candidates from two of the three main parties, will be vying for the position of directly-elected mayor.
Among them is Mayor Stuart Drummond, who won last time, three years ago, despite spending most of the campaign dressed as a Hartlepool United mascot H'Angus the monkey.
Long-serving Hartlepool independent councillor Stan Kaiser is standing with a pledge to stop anti-social behaviour in the town.
The chairman of Hartlepool Borough Council, Carl Richardson, will be representing the Labour Party.
The Conservatives' candidate is Brenda Pearson, despite the fact the party's branch in the town recently voted unanimously not to field anyone.
Stephen Allison, who pushed the Tories into an embarrassing fourth place at the by-election last October, is standing for the UK Independence Party.
John Lauderdale, a councillor for four years, will stand as an Independent, and Ian Cameron, a town taxi firm boss, completes the line-up.
BBC radio DJ and Hartlepool resident Alan Wright recently pulled out of the race for the election, which takes place on May 5.
Meanwhile, Mr Drummond said there was no question of him getting the monkey suit back out of the cupboard.
He said: "I think the important thing now is that people can judge me on my record over the past three years.
"Whereas before I was a complete novice - though I would say I was a quick learner - now I have a good amount of experience and I can point to things that have been achieved in my term in charge."
But Independent candidate Mr Kaiser said a return to serious politics was needed.
He said: "Electing a monkey to the post last time was a great pity, because three years have been wasted when we needed a person of spirit and vision, and we did not get that."
Annfield Plain: Michele Hodgson L; Gillian Raine LD; Julie Ann Watson C.
Benfieldside: John Davies L; John Joseph Healey DI; Bruce Neilson McCaig LD; Julia Carole Ross C.
Burnopfield and Dipton: Reginald Ord DI; Russell Alan Ross C; Eunice Wilkinson Turnbull L.
Consett North: Clive Robson L; Owen Leighton Temple LD; Kenneth Hall Wilson C.
Craghead and South Moor: James William Harper DI; Denis Edwin Jackson LD; David Haddon Marshall L; Judith Turner C.
Delves Lane and Consett South: Anthony Westgarth DI; Ivy Wilson C; Robert Young L.
Esh: Patricia Ann Adams C; Joseph Armstrong L; Neil Robert Michael Shaw LD; Wallace Joseph Tyrie DI.
Lanchester: Peter Michael Carr C; Christine English LD; Thomas Forster L; Richard Young DI.
Leadgate and Medomsley: George Andrew Adams C; Watts Stelling DI; Eric Turner L.
Stanley: Dean Kevin Frederick McAdam BNP; David Agutter Rolfe LD; Jonathan Turner C; Claire Louise Vasey L.
Tanfield: Andrew David Curtis LD; Edna Hunter L; Judith May Webb C.
Teesdale
Barnard Castle East: Fred Blackwell L; Josephine Hazel Perous C.
Barnard Castle West: Richard Andrew Bell C; Keith Stokeld L; David Andrew Wearmouth I.
Evenwood: John Priestley L; George Morland Richardson C.
Durham City
Belmont: Darren Bean C; Kenneth Holroyd LD; Patricia Margaret Johnston L.
Brandon: Ronald Clive Rodgers L; Maureen Jean Ann Smith LD.
Coxhoe: Frederick Farley C; Stephen Maurice Martin LD; Dennis Morgan L.
Deerness Valley: Jean Kathleen Chaplow L; Arnold Simpson LD; Alistair Tebbit C.
Durham South: Isabell Lunan LD; Jenifer Duncan Wakefield C; Donna Michelle Whitfield L.
Elvet: Christopher John Arthur C; John Ashby L; David Robert Freeman LD.
Framwellgate Moor: Redvers Frederick Crooks LD; Norman Donald Parker Ross L; Patricia Wynne C.
Gilesgate: Dennis James Southwell LD; Jeremy Richard Stocker C; Peter James Thompson L.
Nevilles Cross: Nigel Martin LD; Jonathan George Alfred Roberts L; Michael Drummond Moverley Smith C.
Newton Hall: Helen Dorothy Osborn C; Frances Mamie Simmons LD; Aurelia Constance Smith L.
Sherburn: Michael James Fishwick C; Lesley Jane King LD; Raymond Pye L.
Tudhoe: Neil Crowther Foster L; Martin Thomas Brian Jones LD; Matthew Miller C.
Trimdon: Christine Moyle C; Paul Trippett L.
Spennymoor and Middlestone: Paul Andrew Carmedy C; Ernest Foster L; Kevin Thompson LD.
Shildon West: Vernon Chapman L; James Garry Huntington LD; John Maylors Smith I; Marney Jane Swan C.
Shildon East: Alan Booth C; Dorothy Bowman L; Simon Joseph Brown I; Gareth Michael Robinson Howe LD.
Sedgefield: David Ralph Brown C; John Robinson L.
Ferryhill: Charles Magee L; Paul Mountford LD; Patricia Anne Whan C.
Chilton: George Portea L; Christine Sproat LD; William Leslie Turner C.
Aycliffe West: George Coulson Gray L; Enid Marion Paylor I; Patricia Margaret Waller C.
Aycliffe North: Keith Henderson L; Terence Hogan I; Joyce Mary Raine C.
Aycliffe East: William Maurice Blenkinsopp I; Geoffrey Nicholas Crass C; Sarah Jane Iveson L.
North and East: Beatrice Bainbridge C; Lancelot Edward Wm Brown I; Sandra Hutchinson LD; Joseph Knox L.
South: Rita Greener Carr L; Amanda Jane Hall C; Russell Amor Haswell LD.
West Central: Brian David Ebbatson L; Sean Kilkenny LD; Philip Clive Stevens C.
Lumley: Justin Matthew Garrod C; Angela Mary Rae LD; John Brian Walker L; Audrey Willis I.
Ouston and Urpeth: Paul John Leake LD; James Norman C; Christine Teresa Smith L.
Pelton: James Sands Cordon L; George Herbert Gardiner LD; William Laverick I; Frank Lumsden C.
Sacriston: Simon James Key LD; Mark Anthony Watson C; Linda Anne Wright L.
Blackhall: Alan Cox L; Julia Anne Walford C.
Dawdon: Jacquelyn Butler C; Alan Fenwick L.
Deneside: Steven Paul Colborn SPGB; Mark Thomas Nicholson C; Albert Nugent L.
Easington: Alan Barker L; Margaret Reid C.
Horden: Mona Riley C; Peter Paul Stradling L.
Murton: Christopher Edward James Butler C; John William Downie Maddison L.
Peterlee East: Roger John Nimmo Booth C; Leslie Reynolds I; Gordon Tennant L.
Peterlee West: Dennis Coates L; Hazel Lodge C.
Seaham: Derick Dixon C; Ronald Weir L.
Shotton: Lucille Diana Nicholson C; Norman Wade L.
Thornley: Morris Nicholls L; Jack Victor Seare C.
Wingate: Leonard O'Donnell L; Lindsay Marigold Seare C.
Wear Valley
Bishop Auckland Town: Chris Foote-Wood LD; Stephen Anthony Hare I; Kenneth Manton L; Colin Raine C; Thomas Waggott I.
Coundon: Philip Robert Graham L; Douglas David Milne C; Thomas Taylor LD.
Crook North: John Bailey LD; Trevor Carroll OL.
Crook South: David English LD; Robert Pendlebury L.
Weardale: Dorothy Allan LD; Alison Mary Hiles L; John Shuttleworth I.
West Auckland: Howard Bowen-Jones C; Harold Douthwaite L; John Ferguson LD.
Willington: Anne Maria Glynn LD; Brian Leslie Myers L.
Woodhouse Close: John Lethbridge L; Sandra J Moorhouse C; Winston Edward Frank Perkins LD.
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