BOLTON'S deposed deputy council leader is planning a return to politics by aiming to become the borough's first representative on an elected North-west assembly.

Guy Harkin, who had been the council's number two for almost 25 years, vowed to make a comeback just one week after losing his seat in the local elections.

He said he hopes to win the Labour nomination for the Bolton seat -- if the region votes in favour of a regional parliament this autumn.

The controversial politician, who caused a storm earlier this year by proposing to rename the town Bolton-le-Moors, revealed he has already lined up a new role as a highly-paid management consultant.

Mr Harkin, aged 55, claims he knew he would lose his seat on the council at the election the moment the Electoral Commission announced changes to the borough's ward boundaries.

He said: "I put on a brave face but I knew the end was coming.

"The boundary changes did for me when my ward of Daubhill was split between the exclusively Asian ward of Rumworth and the very middle-class ward of Hulton."

Mr Harkin, of Wade Bank, Westhoughton, admitted he is finding it difficult adjusting to life outside of politics. He said: "The strange thing is having time on my hands when normally I have got a diary that is full from first thing in the morning until the last thing at night."

Mr Harkin has been involved in politics from a young age.

As a student, he became president of the Oxford Union in 1970 where he developed a reputation as a firebrand politician.

He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford where he went on a scholarship after attending St Edmunds Primary School and Thornleigh College in Bolton.

In his new role he will advise public sector organisations on making improvements.

If the region votes 'yes' to regional government in a referendum this October, it is thought a North-west parliament -- covering Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria -- could be up and running by 2006.

Mr Harkin said: "The challenge of regional politics excites me and if I am selected to contest the Bolton seat by the Labour Party I could be back in politics in seven or eight months."