Created in 1999, H'Angus the Monkey managed to attract national media attention in his early years despite being affiliated with the Division Three Club Hartepool.
With a character based on the local Hartlepool legend - during the Napoleonic wars, the locals were said to have hung a monkey in the belief it was a French spy - H'Angus quickly developed a reputation for chaos. He had a penchant for rugby-tackling photographers, and was thrown out of the ground on several occasions, most notably in November 2000 at Scunthorpe.
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During the half-time lottery draw that day, he simulated sex with a female steward before being frogmarched from the ground. "The club is taking this very seriously," a Hartlepool spokesman said. "A meeting with the monkey has taken place."
Fans donned 'H'Angus Is Innocent' T-shirts at the next game, but the monkey, played by Stuart Drummond, had not learned his lesson. In May 2001, H'Angus was escorted from the field at Blackpool having turned up, according to a Lancashire police spokesman, late and "worse the wear for alcohol", while providing entertainment with a blow-up doll dressed in the Hartlepool kit. The club subsequently decided not to take H'Angus to any more away games.
Drummond then, somewhat surprisingly, announced that he was going to enter the race to become the town's first directly-elected mayor. "People have said for years that a monkey could be elected in Hartlepool," he told the Hartlepool Mail in April 2002. "Now we're going to find out."
He decided to campaign as the club mascot - "Vote for H'Angus. He gives a monkey's" - and said he would give free bananas to school children as part of his manifesto. He was narrowly elected the Mayor of Hartlepool that May, and remains in office after winning over the electorate three times in succession.
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