Bloomberg Stokes Rumours of 2008 Presidential Bid

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York and America's 44th richest man, has sparked speculation that he is planning to make a third-party bid for the White House next year by severing his ties with the Republicans and declaring himself a "political independent".

Mr Bloomberg's intentions have been under intense observation for several months, as he is known to have been privately weighing up the possibility of making a run for president in the 2008 elections. His decision to break ties with the party that secured him the mayoralty in 2001 is being interpreted as a sign that his plans are firming up.

Yesterday he insisted he had no plans to stand down as mayor before the end of his term in 2009. "I am not a candidate. I have said that my intention is to be mayor for the next 929 days," he said. But that failed to quell the debate. "If he didn't think that he had some political future there would be no motive for ending his relationship with the Republicans," David King, lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, said.

The mayor filed papers to change his status to "unaffiliated with any political party". Despite saying his plans had not changed, his statement was pitched in terms that could be interpreted as exuding presidential ambitions.

"Any successful elected executive knows that real results are more important than partisan battles and that good ideas should take precedence over rigid adherence to any particular political ideology," he said.

The statement was issued from California, where Mr Bloomberg has been on a speaking tour that has been compared to a presidential campaign. He gave a speech in which he argued that old-style party politics and partisanship were jeopardizing the future of the US.

The New York mayor has one canon in his armory that gives him a natural advantage: fabulous wealth. According to Forbes, he is worth $5.3bn (£2.7bn), though some estimates say the real value of his financial media empire is four times that amount. That means he has no need to go through the energy-sapping round of fundraising that has had all other major presidential candidates tied up for months. He could bide his time before entering the fray early next year.

Reports have suggested that he has been considering a presidential bid costing $500m, though a $1bn campaign - the most expensive in history - would not be beyond his means. Mr Bloomberg has a track record of throwing money at elections: he won his 2005 re-election as mayor of New York by spending $85m, vastly more than his Democratic rival.

A Bloomberg ticket in 2008 could have a dramatic impact on the outcome of the race, eating into the votes of both main parties. He would certainly spend much more than Ross Perot, who had a war-chest of $62m in 1992. Mr Perot, a businessman like the mayor, failed to take a single electoral college vote, but he did take 19% of the popular vote.

Mr Bloomberg's electoral pitch, as a strong leader offering non-partisan solutions to America's problems at home and abroad, might also chime with voters, as would his considerable popularity and record of success in running New York.

Mr King said that the mayor would be unlikely to make a final decision until it was known who would be holding the main parties' nominations. "If the Democrats come down pretty far to the left, and the Republicans to the right he will be perfectly placed as a strong non-aligned centrist candidate."