Martin Lewis has revealed if he will be running for Mayor of Greater Manchester in the future. The debate about his potential candidacy comes as other famous names have suggested they might be interested in taking up the job, including former Manchester United captain and football coach Gary Neville.
But the money saving expert - and North West native - ruled out the possibility of going for the mayoral title. He candidly shared that he 'will never take a polemic party job' because of the toll it would take on both his mental health and his family.
In an interview with the BBC's Nick Robinson, the presenter pointed out that Andy Burnham 'can't do it forever'. Martin Lewis responded that even running as an independent candidate would be out of the question.
READ MORE : Warning that UK could be on the brink of new Covid wave with virus becoming 'more dangerous'
“There are friends of yours who have told me that you ought to be Mayor of London,” said Nick Robinson on the Political Thinking podcast. “Oh no, I’m not a Londoner originally, I don’t think it’d be appropriate. I’m from the North West," replied the financial journalist and broadcaster.
“Mayor of Manchester then? Andy Burnham can’t do it forever. Gary Neville, who was on this podcast, is interested," continued Robinson. Withington-born Lewis, however, hit back at the suggestion and shared the reasons why.
“Good luck to him. I will never take a polemic party job," responded Lewis. "I’ll be straight, my mental health is not robust enough to deal with it and I would never put my family through it.”
On whether he could run as an independent candidate the MoneySavingExpert.com founder, emphasised that he wants to remain out of the party political saying his approach is 'I don't judge on party, I judge on policy'.
"Still the same, it’s still a polemic job," said Lewis. It’s hard enough being in the media, to be in frontline politics where people are opposing you is just not something I would want to do.”
The revelations come as Lewis, who is regarded as the one of most trusted people in Britain, said he believed his request for a cross-bench peerage was declined because he was 'honest about the limited time he could commit to the role'. In an interview for the peerage, he said his nine-year-old daughter is his priority.
The 50-year-old has become increasingly vocal in recent months on behalf of consumers and financially stretched households, amid surging inflation and a cost of living crisis.
Lewis also told the podcast that he was a member of the Liberal Democrats until the age of 24 but since then had been a floating voter. He said his attempt to become an independent peer was recently turned down by the House of Lords appointments commission.
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
