I've never had any doubt that Ray Mallon will eventually throw his name into the hat but now we have an idea who the Tories will be putting forward in Graham Robb who, if I remember rightly, stood as a Tory candidate in a previous General Election for Hartlepool. Calamity Chris' two-faced position on this is now on public display for all to see.
http://www.hartlepoolpost.co.uk
"It is only right and proper that the people of Hartlepool are given the opportunity to indicate how they wish to be governed."
Cllr Christopher Akers-Belcher speaking on 22nd June, 2012, in favour of a referendum on scrapping the elected Mayoral system and replacing it with a committee system with himself as its Leader.
Funny how quotes can come around later and bite you on the ar** ;D
The outlook for Hartlepool in this shotgun marriage can't be bright. It looks like the Teesside old boys club will be driving the bus, with Middlesbrough carrying on its desperate need to be the centre of things and get the city status its desperate for.
We'll be an utter irrelevance.