The Hartlepool Mail scooped the national press last week with an exclusive statement from Peter Mandelson after he was nominated as Britain’s next European commissioner.

The MP telephoned Mail editor Paul Napier the night before his nomination was officially announced to confirm the news, and also wrote an exclusive article which the paper printed on Friday.

Paul told HoldtheFrontPage: “We splashed on the front page with the general story but what was different was on page three, something which the nationals won’t have – a lengthy statement from Mr Mandelson.

“He phoned me at home to say he was going to take the role and then at 11.30pm on Thursday he sent the statement.”

Mr Mandelson told Mail readers: “I have agonised long and hard over the decision for the past two days. Contrary to what you may have read in the national media, this isn’t a job that I have been angling for.

“I’ve said very reluctantly, yes, I’ll go. But I’m not going to forget Hartlepool and I intend to be Hartlepool’s representative in Europe.

“I’m going to come back regularly to the town and maintain my contacts with local people and businesses. I’m going to hold a Europe Forum every year to give local people the chance to tell me straight what they think about what’s going on in Europe. Because it’s that connection to the lives and opinions of the general public that Europe presently lacks.

“And when I’m sitting at my desk in Brussels, it will be the gut commonsense of the people of Hartlepool that will be my guide and inspiration.”

He will not take up the post until November, meaning no date has yet been set for a by-election in Hartlepool.

Paul said: “It’s a story we will be covering all summer.”

Paul, who was appointed editor of the Mail in May 2003 described Mr Mandelson’s relationship with the Mail as “solid” after previous editor Harry Blackwood was sacked in the wake of a row with the politician.

Paul said: “We have a very solid relationship – what I would say is the same as between any MP and their local evening newspaper.”

Mandelson was said to have tried to get Harry ousted following what he saw as unfavourable coverage.

The political row blew up when the Mail was accused of giving preferential treatment to a man in a monkey costume during the 2002 elections for a Hartlepool mayor.

The monkey – Hartlepool United’s mascot Stuart Drummond – eventually defeated the Labour candidate Leo Gillen and as soon he had been declared the first elected mayor, the Hartlepool Mail was blamed for the main political parties’ electoral demise.

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