MIDDLESBROUGH mayoral contender Jeff Fowler does not just want to improve the town - he also wants to change the country.

The 52-year-old Socialist Alliance candidate, from Lin-thorpe, is an anti-capitalist, trade unionist and environmentalist who believes the Western world has been corrupted by money and power.

He knows he has little chance of winning the race on May 2, but he wants people in Middlesbrough to have the chance to vote for "true socialist" policies.

"I do think my policies will have an appeal for people in the town and we are getting a good response so far," he said.

"But I realise I won't win. My campaign is more about saying to people 'there is a socialist candidate to vote for'."

Unlike his rivals, Mr Fowler, a computer lecturer at Sunderland University, does not talk about cracking down on crime, but on the reasons for it.

"It's the system we live under that creates crime. If we gave them hope and proper jobs there would not be such levels of crime," he said.

His other main policies include renationalising the local bus network, improving recycling facilities, retaining council housing stock and taxing the rich.

But perhaps most radical is his belief that the UK should have no border controls and that Middlesbrough Council should provide housing and support for asylum seekers and economic migrants alike.

"I wouldn't have the power as mayor to do all these things, but I'd use the mayoral office to campaign for a better society for Middlesbrough and the rest of the country," he said.