3 Jun 2011

Romney launches bid for White House

5:47 am on 3 June 2011

A former governor of the Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, has launched his campaign to be the Republican candidate in next year's US presidential elections.

The wealthy businessman is the current frontrunner in the Republican field, the BBC reports.

Mr Romney made his announcement in New Hampshire, one of the American states which votes early in US primary elections.

He said that, if elected, he said he would make the US the world's top job creator. He has previously pledged to balance the federal budget and limit federal spending at 20% of gross domestic product.

Mr Romney's announcement on Thursday marks the second time he will be running for the Republican nomination.

He lost the party's 2008 nomination race to Arizona Senator John McCain and has since been support within the party and preparing for the 2012 race.

The BBC says Mr Romney's biggest problem is that as governor of Massachusetts he introduced a type of compulsory health insurance that appear very similar to the President Obama's reforms, which are loathed by most Republicans.