AFTER a decade of fighting the powers that be, Prof Mike O'Carroll is looking to join them.

As chairman of the Revolt group, he has fought long and hard against the National Grid's plans to build a 50-mile, 400,000-volt line of pylons from Lackenby on Teesside through the Vale of York to Shipton.

This year, backed by Revolt, the 61-year-old retired professor plans to make the leap from protester to authority figure. He is standing as an Independent candidate for the Appleton Wiske division in the North Yorkshire County Council elections.

"The decision was made at a Revolt committee meeting," said Prof O'Carroll. "We were discussing whether we should put up a candidate for the national elections. I thought it might be a bit of a futile gesture and I wasn't willing to stand unless I thought I could do the job."

The father of four, who lives in Welbury, near Northallerton, is keen to stress that he is not a one-issue candidate. "I am not standing as a Revolt candidate, although I am standing with their blessing," he admitted.

In his campaign manifesto, he makes it very clear that he will not be slinging mud at any of his rivals for the Appleton Wiske seat. "We are not into challenging or knocking any political party, because Revolt draws support from all of them," he said.

A supporter of the Democracy Trust, he sees being an Independent councillor as a way of distancing himself from some of the sleaze attached to party politics, much like his role model. "I was very impressed with the MP Martin Bell - he is a genuine independent voice," he said. "And there is a good tradition in North Yorkshire of Independent candidates.

"It is not so much a matter of expunging party politics. I respect that you do need parties to form governments. I find myself in agreement with most parties on some things and disagree with them all on others. It is the idea of being tied to party doctrine that doesn't appeal to me at all."

Issues close to his heart include building bridges with local organisations. "I would be looking to improve communications with people in the electoral division and particularly strengthening communications with the parish councils. I will also be encouraging use of the internet and other methods of electronic communication, as increasingly that will be a means of keeping in touch with people and getting their feedback."

He was brought up in rural Warwickshire, and says he has a special fondness for the countryside. A member of the Lyke Wake club, he covers a lot of his proposed constituency on foot. "I have jogged across the Appleton Wiske division as far up as the A1, and to Kepwick in the west," he said. "Jogging around Welbury, Appleton Wiske and the Rountons brings a certain intimacy not experienced so well from a commuter car."

He studied mathematics at Cambridge university, then worked for British Aerospace for 18 months. He married his wife, Patricia, at Christmas, 1961, before taking up a lecturing post at Armidale university in New South Wales, Australia.

The couple came to Welbury in 1978, when Prof O'Carroll was appointed head of mathematics at Teesside polytechnic. He then went to Sunderland university in 1986 where he was head of various departments and became pro-vice chancellor.

An amateur weight lifter for 20 years, he was British universities champion, and Australian universities champion during his time in New South Wales. When he lived in Lemington Spa, he used to train with the boxer Randolf Turpin, who went on to beat Sugar Ray Robinson to become world champion.

He says he is too busy to dedicate the time necessary for weight lifting these days, but is still a well-known face on the scene. "I did some work to help out the Yorkshire association, and then they elected me president!"

He spearheaded a massive shake-up of the way the association was run, in a bid to attract new blood. "It was very much an ageing organisation, with very few young people joining it. Some members compete well into their 70s and 80s - they enjoy it and it does them good.

"But we have got a wave of new blood in and are one of the best performing divisions in the country, including our school-age competitors. We are doing very well and have got the finances under control now."

"There is an awful lot of myths surrounding weight lifting which suggest that it has adverse effects on children's growth, and they really don't stand up to the scientific evidence."

He aims to use his academic background to bring a voice of reason to the council chamber. The former professor of mathematics and statistics says he will vote on all issues as his conscience dictates, rather than tow the party line. "As a mathematician and scientist I am very influenced in looking at the evidence. I know science is very far from perfect and has its own internal conflicts as well, but by and large the effort in science is to capture common ground.

"If a scientist has a theory and comes up against contrary evidence, he has to take it into account. I get tired of seeing politicians repeat arguments that the hard facts clearly make untenable. It is an adversarial culture where decisions are made by conflict, and I believe local issues could be decided more rationally.

"Key issues should not be decided by hot tempers or by party doctrine. There should be a genuine, proper assessment of any big decision, just as you would find in any big corporation."

So from seasoned protester to maverick councillor, maybe the leap for Prof O'Carroll isn't so great.

l Candidates who have so far declared they are standing in the Appleton Wiske division are: Coun John Dennis, MBE (Con), Ann Hutchings (Lab), Michael John O'Carroll (Ind) and Simon Whitfield (Lib Dem).