Stuart Drummond

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For the footballer, see Stewart Drummond

Stuart Drummond

Mayor of Hartlepool
Preceded by	New Office

Born	29 November 1973 (1973-11-29) (age 34)
Political party	Independent
Website	www.thisishartlepool.co.uk

Stuart Drummond (born 29 November 1973) is the first directly-elected mayor of Hartlepool in North East England.^[1] He was first elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2005.^[2]

1 Biography
2 Mayor of Hartlepool
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Drummond was born 29 November 1973. He gained an HND in business finance and languages at Salford University.^[1] Before his election he had played the mascot - 'H'Angus the Monkey' - for Hartlepool United F.C..

[edit] Mayor of Hartlepool

He stood for election to Mayor of the Borough of Hartlepool, a unitary authority in the north east of England, in 2002. He won the election narrowly, with 5,696 votes compared to the Labour candidate's 5,174. The result was greeted with widespread hilarity, attracting attention far beyond Hartlepool. Canada's National Post newspaper ran the headline "Monkey wins mayoralty, regains human form".^[3]

After his election, Drummond stood down as mascot. A local story suggests that local bookmakers set bets on the outcome of the election, with high odds against H'Angus being elected, and local "Poolies" being what they are, went out, placed their bet and then placed their vote, ultimately to benefit from the odds.^{[citation needed]}

On 5 May 2005, Drummond was re-elected as the mayor of Hartlepool with an increased majority of 10,205. Stuart failed to fulfill his free banana manifesto commitment due to a shortage of funds, although to his credit he did offer a sustainable option of free banana plants to all the town's schools.^{[citation needed]} Drummond is most commonly found on home matches where he has a regular spot in the Mill House Stand, although he does refuse to talk politics during the match.^{[citation needed]}

A campaign group set up in 2006 hopes to trigger a referendum that would abolish the office of mayor and instead create a leader and cabinet system of local government.^[4]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Oliver Wright, Monkey business turns serious for Hartlepool. The Times. London (UK): May 4, 2002. pg. 13
^ Sarah Weaver, Elected mayor stops the monkey business. The Times. London (UK): May 7, 2005. pg. 63
^ National Post news services, "Monkey wins mayoralty, regains human form" (Toronto edition headline)/"Monkey mascot wins $121,800 job as mayor" (all but Toronto edition headline), National Post (Canada), 4 May 2002, archived online at http://www.fpinfomart.ca, $4.95 fee to view full article.
^ Jill Sherman, Voters aim to throw out mayors they say are acting like dictators. The Times. London (UK): Sep 4, 2006. pg. 8