10 May 2010

Anderton to keep seat if elected mayor

6:31 am on 10 May 2010

Wigram MP Jim Anderton says he won't give up his seat in Parliament before the next general election, if he becomes Mayor of Christchurch.

Mr Anderton has confirmed that he will run for mayor in October's local government elections.

If he wins the mayoral race he will keep his MP's salary, but says he will donate his mayor's salary to community services which have had their funding cut, until he retires from Parliament at the next election.

And he says a by-election would cost $600,000 and may not even be necessary if a general election is held early.

Mr Anderton says he could do the work of a backbench MP and Mayor for the time required and he would not be the first mayor of a large city to do so.

Mr Anderton told a crowd of more than 100 people at a meeting in Christchurch on Sunday afternoon that the council needs to be more accountable to its citizens.

He said he will campaign on issues such as restoring funding to community organisations and job creation.

Mr Anderton, 72, is a former deputy prime minister and was a senior Cabinet minister in the last Labour government.