Stuart Drummond, aka H’Angus the Monkey, the first directly elected mayor of Hartlepool, was re-elected for an historic third term last night.

Mr Drummond, an independent candidate, became mayor in 2002 after standing in his monkey mascot costume as a publicity stunt for Hartlepool United Football Club. Few thought the former call centre worker and cruise ship waiter would survive a month.

Three years later he was re-elected with a majority of 10,000 and last night, the people of Hartlepool, where Lord Mandelson used to be an MP, backed him for the third time with a majority of more than 800 votes.

After beating the Labour candidate into third place he pledged to repay the public for their support, likening politicians to sitting ducks who had lost the public’s trust.

Mr Drummond, 35, said: “The first time I was elected in 2002 a lot of people said it was a fluke; some people said it was a stroke of genius.

“It was a huge achievement to be returned in 2005 with a big majority. I was very, very proud of that but I think to be returned for a third time tops those two times put together.

“Being the mayor is a massive, massive honour. It is the best job in the world.”

No other directly elected mayor has won a third term in office.

Mr Drummond’s win means that four of the 11 directly elected mayors outside London are independent.

The Blairite project to devolve powers to directly elected leaders following local referendums was never backed with much enthusiasm by Gordon Brown or John Prescott, when he was deputy leader. But David Cameron plans to expand the scheme to all cities in England.

Tony Blair was keen to emulate the American system after admiring Rudolph Giuliani’s work in New York. But the directly elected mayors outside London did not get the same powers as Ken Livingstone or Boris Johnson.

Mr Cameron has promised to give all mayors greater influence, which could include more powers over the police, transport and health services.

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