A Pendlebury politician has vowed to slice the Salford mayoral wage in half as he steps up his campaign.
Stuart Cremins, 37, is raising money to place himself and his newly-formed Republic party on the ballot for the second mayor elections before next week’s deadline.
The former Green and independent candidate, who will also run for Pendlebury councillor in the May 5 elections, wants to shake up the system with strong reforms.
“I am not the average politician, I suppose I am a bit of a radical,” he said.
“The Republic party in itself is radical. A fairer democracy would be as a republic, and that is proven around the world.
“With all the cuts going on in Salford, we need a change and a new focus on the way things are run.
“The Labour council is heavily in control and I want to break up that control.”
Cremins has lived in Salford for 30 years, and said the Republic party’s formation was the culmination of his eight years of political engagement.
By raising £500 before the April 7 deadline, his name will appear on the Salford mayor ballot, but any money raised will help to fund the Republic party at future elections.
While he would be running against candidates from established parties such as Labour, Conservatives and the Greens – for whom he has previously stood – he believes his refreshing ideas cut him away from the rest of the field.
“One of my main campaign points would be to cut the mayor’s pay by half, down from £69,000, and I think I am the only candidate who would do that,” he said.
“I also believe in a fairer, more localised council tax system, where the money is spent in the community and people can see where it is going.
“I am also anti-fracking, I would like to see the business rates lowered, and I would bring bin collections back to weekly – at the moment it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Entrepreneur Cremins, who started up his own investment company five years ago, also supports scrapping the TV licence and urged the BBC to advertise.
And while the fledgling party is currently a one-man operation, he said he also hopes to put forward a candidate for next year’s inaugural Manchester mayor elections.
To help the Republic party raise funds for this and future elections, or to find out more about the campaign, click here.
