CONSERVATIVES last night nominated a veteran councillor to take up a top post – if he survives next month’s election.

The Tories have asked Clr Adrian Murphy to serve as Deputy Mayor of Kirklees Council in 2012/13.

But the Lepton man will only get his hands on the chain of office if he survives a tough fight to keep his Kirkburton seat in the May 3 election.

Current Deputy Mayor Clr Christine Iredale – who is due to serve as first citizen in 2012/13 – is also up for re-election in next month’s poll.

Kirklees operates a rota system where each of the four main parties – Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, and the Greens – take turns to choose the mayor of the district.

It is also traditional for a councillor to serve a term as deputy mayor before becoming mayor.

The Conservatives last night said Clr Murphy would be their nominee to become deputy in 2012/13, meaning he would become mayor the year after.

He said: “It is a fantastic honour to be nominated as the next deputy mayor by my Conservative colleagues, but it will be an even greater privilege to represent the council and its residents in this role and subsequently as the mayor of the borough.

“It is a tremendous personal honour but also one which I hope will be appreciated by the Kirkburton constituents who have been good enough to elect me to represent them on a number of occasions.

“I am looking forward to representing the council and the whole of the borough to the best of my ability over the next couple of years.”

Clr Robert Light, who leads the 21-strong Conservative group on Kirklees Council, paid tribute to his colleague.

“Adrian is a rarity as a councillor, a genuinely nice chap who is respected for his work as a member not only by the Conservative group but by councillors from all political groups across the council,” said Clr Light.

“He will be a fine deputy mayor over the coming 12 months, and I look forward to him achieving the pinnacle as first citizen of the borough the following year. I am delighted for him.”

Clr Murphy, who has represented Kirkburton since 1999, is up for re-election on May 3.

The seat has developed into a Conservative/Green marginal in the last five years.

In 2008, Clr Murphy was re-elected by 600 votes. His Conservative colleague Clr Christine Smith finished 1,100 votes ahead of the Greens in 2010.

But last year Clr Derek Hardcastle held his seat for the Greens by just 82 votes.

Current Lib Dem deputy mayor Clr Christine Iredale also faces a tough fight to keep her seat on May 3.

Her husband Clr Robert Iredale lost his seat in Golcar to Labour last year by 202 votes.