A ‘BUREAUCRATIC error’ in his nomination papers has stopped a Prestwich man from standing in next month’s Manchester mayoral election.

Last year businessman Michael Elston, 39, announced his intention to stand as a independent candidate in the election on May 6, opposing current incumbent Andy Burnham.

The election was deferred until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Elston grew up in Prestwich and is a Bury FC fan, and went to Manchester Grammar School and then The University of Birmingham, where he studied ancient history, specialising in Egyptology.

He said his intention to stand for election was motivated by lack of faith in the current party political landscape.

This week Mr Elston issued a statement which said he had not been permitted to stand in the Greater Manchester mayoral election after a bureaucratic error in his nomination papers .

He said: “Many thanks to everyone who nominated me. It’s greatly appreciated.

“In order to stand in the mayoral election, we were required to have 20 nominations, two from each of the ten Greater Manchester districts.

“When collecting signatures, most people had not yet received their polling cards, which were sent out unusually late this year, and so did not know their electoral numbers, which also had to be included on the form.

“I should have checked these myself in advance. I too did not expect this to become so problematic.

“Unfortunately, when I submitted my nomination papers, some of my subscribers did not appear on the electoral roll under their current home addresses and this invalidated the papers.

“Consequently, my nomination could not be accepted and I will not be standing in this year’s election for metro mayor.”

The final list of candidates for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority mayoral election includes another candidate from Bury.

Stephen Morris, from Unsworth, will be the English Democrats candidate.

The other names on the ballot paper will be Nick Buckley, Reform UK, Andy Burnham, Labour, Laura Evans, Conservative, Marcus Farmer, Independent, Melanie Horrocks, Green Party and Simon Lepori from the Liberal Democrats.

Other candidates Alec Marvel and David Sutcliffe have not specified a description for the ballot paper.