The post you are reporting:
courtesy of the telegraph.
Paul Massey is one of north-west England's best-known criminals. He has 25 convictions for offences including violence and possessing an offensive weapon.
In 1999, he was jailed for 14 years for stabbing someone in the groin and is under police investigation for money-laundering. Next week, he is a candidate to become the first directly-elected mayor of Salford, and some think he could win.
"I've been talking to a lot of people who've said they're going to vote for him, inexplicably," says Stephen Kingston, editor of the Salford Star news magazine. "People have had enough of politicians. They're looking for a candidate that's independent, and because he's independent, he's getting a lot of publicity."
Mr Massey admits never voting before, and preferred to deal with issues more directly in the past: he had two years added to his stabbing sentence after telling the officers who stopped him in his Rolls-Royce for drink-driving: "I'll get you all shot." He is now campaigning, with an apparently straight face, to bring down crime. And if he wins on May 3, he will gain almost total power over a £170 million council serving 230,000 people.
On the same day as Salford's first mayoral election, and London's fourth, 10 other cities will hold referendums on moving from a conventional council model to directly-elected mayors.