Biography
Drummond was born 29 November 1973. He attended Hartlepool Sixth Form College, before he gained a Higher National Diploma, HND in business finance and languages at the Salford University, University of Salford. He worked on cruise ships, travelling the globe for a couple of years and then worked in a call centre back in his home town. Before his election, he was the mascot – H'Angus, H'Angus the Monkey – for Hartlepool United F.C.Mayor of Hartlepool
Drummond stood for election to Mayor of the Borough of Hartlepool, a unitary authority in the north east of England, in 2002 Hartlepool Council election, the 2002 election. He came up with the idea to stand for MP in the 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 General Election, but opted against it. He approached Hartlepool United F.C., Hartlepool United Football Club chairman Ken Hodcroft with the idea to stand for Mayor and the club was happy to put up his £500 election deposit. The club saw it as a chance to generate publicity and their name and club sponsors were given a global platform. Drummond took part in no serious campaigning and among his promises was for the council to provide free bananas for school children in the town - which he later delivered. Online bookmakers Bet365 offered odds on Drummond / H'Angus being elected and odds tumbled in one day from 100-1 to 4-1 as his supporters showed their support. Drummond was narrowly elected, beating the second place, high-profile Labour Party (UK), Labour Party candidate by 5,696 to 5,174. The result was greeted with widespread hilarity, attracting attention far beyond Hartlepool. Canada's ''National Post'' newspaper ran the headline "Monkey wins mayoralty, regains human form". The Northern Echo ran with 'Monkey Is Mayor" - despite the paper's deadline being before the actual result was declared, such was the confidence within Drummond's camp on the night of the vote. After his election, Drummond immediately stood down as mascot. He said: I am just a normal guy off the street, listening to the views of the public and I am the voice of the public. I haven't got a big party backing me and I have been using the monkey to promote myself, promote my campaign." Peter Mandelson, the town's then MP, was present at the count in the Mill House Sports Centre in the early hours of the morning and cut an unhappy figure as his candidate, Leo Gillen, was beaten. Drummond alleged that Mandelson pulled him to one side and called him a "disgrace" and said that he'd "made the town a laughing stock". On 5 May 2005, Drummond was re-elected as the mayor of Hartlepool with an increased majority of 10,205. On 4 June 2009, Drummond was re-elected for a third term. Drummond in 2010 was a finalist for the World Mayor prize. A campaign group set up in 2006 hoped to petition for a referendum that would abolish the office of mayor and adopt the Executive arrangements#Leader and cabinet, leader and cabinet system of local government leadership. The referendum occurred on 15 November 2012, after the majority Labour Party (UK), Labour group on Hartlepool council established a referendum which resulted in the council leader and cabinet system being favoured. The leader and cabinet system became the governance structure for the council in May 2013. Since his reign as Mayor, Drummond remained in Hartlepool until 2022 and was a prominent figurehead amongst local businesses acting as a consultant for several organisations.Personal life
On his re-election in 2005, he immediately proposed to his then-girlfriend, who accepted and said yes. The pair were married a year later. Drummond appeared on the ITV (TV network), ITV game show Tenable in April 2018. He and his team mates were all Hartlepool fans and named their team ''The Cheeky Monkey Hangers''. They failed to win a cash prize. In October 2021, Drummond revealed that he and his family were emigrating to Australia the following year.References
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