Elected Mayor contest: Will I run for Salford Mayor?

As I hinted in a blog-post last year, Labour Councillor (and former Leader of Salford City Council) Bill Hinds was taking a big risk when he told Salford's full council meeting last September that he thought Salfordians would not be stupid enough to vote for an elected Mayor in the Referendum which was held on 26th January of this year. Well, famous last words and all that.

I will leave you, the reader, to judge whether 10% of the City of Salford electorate voting for an elected Mayor (and 8% voting against, and the remaining 82% not voting at all) means that Salfordians were indeed so stupid that they voted for an elected Mayor. In fairness to Billy Hinds - ("Socialist Worker for inspiration, Financial Times for information") - it could credibly be argued that 90% of Salfordians were not so stupid as to vote for an elected Mayor, but it's no more than a moot point now because the 10% of Salfordians that did vote for an elected Mayor won the Referendum by a simple majority of the votes cast. That's democracy in action (allegedly).

Given that the people have spoken [well, 18% of them] and the majority called for an elected Mayor, the election of an elected Mayor for the City of Salford will now take place on Thursday 3rd May 2012. Salford Labour Boss John Merry has already said that he will run for elected Mayor, and I would not be surprised in the slightest if the Mayoral contest ends up with a long list of candidates. I am currently considering whether or not to throw my hat into the ring. I will be contacting several people in the next week and I will wait to see what responses they give before I make a final decision as to whether or not I will run for elected Mayor of Salford.