Stuart Drummond
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Stuart Drummond is the first directly-elected mayor of Hartlepool in northern England.
He had previously played the mascot for Hartlepool United F.C. as H'Angus the Monkey. He stood for election to Mayor in 2002, originally on a joke platform including a pledge for free bananas for schoolchildren. He won the election narrowly, with 5,696 votes compared to the Labour Party's candidate 5,174. The result was greeted with widespread hilarity, attracting attention far beyond Hartlepool. Canada's National Post newspaper ran the memorable headline "Monkey wins mayoralty, regains human form".
After his election, Drummond stood down as mascot, saying: "Forget about the monkey. The monkey was there only for promotion purposes. The monkey was just for publicity. I am Stuart Drummond, I am the Mayor of Hartlepool, not the monkey."
On May 5, 2005, Drummond was re-elected as the mayor of Hartlepool with an increased majority of 10,205.
External link
Hartlepool Borough Council: Results of Hartlepool Mayoral Election 5 May 2005 (http://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/news/latestnews/resultsofhartlepoolmayoralel?a=5441)