WHEN H'Angus the Monkey won the race to become the first directly-elected mayor of Hartlepool, he struck a real blow for mascot power.He's the first football mascot to run his own town – and now both Bluey and Tractor Boy could be looking enviously at their north eastern counterpart.

WHEN H'Angus the Monkey won the race to become the first directly-elected mayor of Hartlepool, he struck a real blow for mascot power.

He's the first football mascot to run his own town – and now both Bluey and Tractor Boy could be looking enviously at their north eastern counterpart.

Officials at Portman Road are remaining tight-lipped about the idea, so we tried to get the truth straight from the horse's mouth.

But both Bluey and potential running-mate Crazee were refusing to say yea or neigh about whether they would run.

Sources close to the club have confirmed that a Gallup poll may be commissioned to find out the level of support for a campaign.

"Bluey would only put himself up for election if he could be sure of success," I was told.

"He would only stand if it was a one or two-horse race."

If he did stand it would probably attract interest from across the country – in effect be a grand national event.

But the cost of mounting a bid would be considerable. The deposit could be as high as £1,050 – that's 1,000 Guineas in old money and if Crazee joined him on the ticket it could be as much as 2,000 Guineas.

Tractor Boy, too, has been taking straw polls to find out if he would have any support for a mayoral bid.

Like Bluey, though, he's anxious not to plough a lonely furrow in the race to the mayoralty.

"I'll only stand if I can harvest enough votes," he told the Star.