Writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe has ruled himself out of the race to be Brighton and Hove's mayor.

Because he has been a strong supporter of a directly-elected mayor, many people in Brighton and Hove assumed he wanted the job himself.

But Mr Fanshawe, who headed the successful campaign for Brighton and Hove to become a city, never declared himself a runner.

Now he has told us he definitely will not put his name forward if people vote Yes to an elected mayor in a referendum on October 18.

Mr Fanshawe said the allegations that he wanted the job were hampering his work for the Yes campaign.

He added: "I have a career and I shall carry on writing and broadcasting."

Following the success of the city campaign, he put his energy behind the move to get an elected mayor.

But he said: "People were saying I was doing it for my own interests."

Mr Fanshawe will continue to chair the city's economic partnership and is also playing a leading role in developing Brighton and Hove as a theatre-producing city.

He said: "I shall campaign for a directly-elected mayor and I shall be at the launch on Thursday."

Labour cabinet councillor Ian Duncan said: "I hope this will silence the critics."

Mr Fanshawe attracts more than 1.6 million listening to his weekly Radio Four programme, Fanshawe Gets To The Bottom Of.