MOVES to take the politics out of Test Valley Borough Council's choice of its Mayor have been launched by the Liberal Democrats.

With the Mayoralty of the Borough having been dominated by the Conservatives over the past 30 years, the Lib Dems will be calling for a cross-party selection committee when the council meets in Romsey on Wednesday. Councillor Mark Cooper, from Romsey, who will be supporting proposal by Lib Dem Group leader Robin Hughes, said: "In the last 30 years, there have been just five non-Conservative Mayors.

Those five were Lib Dems Craig Lewis (1991-93), Brian Palmer (1996-97) and Rod Bailey (1997-98) and Independents Bill White (1985-86) and Doris Bunting (1987-88).

But there was a bitter note to the Lib Dems' attempts to have Romsey councillor and former Town Mayor Dorothy Baverstock considered as a possible future Borough Mayor last year.

That move was snubbed by the Conservatives after Democrat Steve Cosier had refused to stand when present Mayor Peter Boulton was installed because of his (Councillor Cosier's) objection to Councillor Boulton's support for a controversial planning application at North Baddesley.

Now, however, the Lib Dems are renewing their efforts for more cross-party input and at the meeting on Wednesday, Councillor Hughes will propose:

"This Council believes that the reputation of the Mayoralty has been damaged in recent years by the failure of the majority group to demonstrate that as the role of Mayor is not party-political, selection should be conducted in a manner which honours this.

"This council therefore requires that a cross-party selection committee be established. This should establish clear criteria to be used for selecting this council's Deputy Mayor in 2006-07 and thereafter Mayor in 2007-08. This committee would subsequently meet as often as necessary to ensure that the Mayor choosing process remains consistently transparent and fair."