There will be no UKIP candidate in this year’s mayoral race as the party believes the role should be abolished.

UKIP Watford refused to put forward a contender for the elections on May 3 as they believe having a mayor has “weakened” democracy in the town by placing too much power in the hands of one party.

The party believes there should be a leader of the council instead.

A spokesperson for the party said a candidate was considered with the primary policy of having a local referendum in May 2019 to decide whether people in Watford would like a directly elected Mayor or not.

They explained: “The issue for our best potential candidates was that if elected on such a policy, it would mean being required to leave good permanent jobs for what would likely be only a very temporary position. It is a big ask to expect someone to abandon a stable job and career for a very short-term appointment.

“There is also the question on whether the singular policy of abolishing the mayoral position would be better fought by an independent candidate. There are many in Watford who we know support such a policy, but do not necessarily want to vote in a way that would appear to support any political party.

“On balance, we have decided that the right approach is to not enter the mayoral race this time. The only downside from UKIP Watford’s point of view is our absence from the race disappointing some of our supporters and also that we will be missing the publicity that a high profile mayoral campaign can bring. However, we will still be standing council candidates in several wards.”

Dorothy Thornhill is stepping down in May after serving as Watford’s first elected mayor - and first female elected mayor in the UK - since 2002.

Deputy mayor Peter Taylor is standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate, George Jabbour is the Conservative candidate and Jagtar Singh Dhindsa is the candidate for Labour.