The Mayor of Hamilton has lost the support of all but one of the city?s aldermen and councillors ? with the rest demanding his immediate resignation over alleged election interference.

Sutherland Madeiros would not comment last night on a letter sent to him by two aldermen and four councillors on Tuesday which claimed he had ?brought disrepute to the Corporation of Hamilton? during the October mayoral election. But the one councillor still backing him, businessman Jim Butterfield, told that the Mayor, who is responsible for the city?s $20 million annual budget, had no intention of stepping down and stood by the results of the vote.

?I think Mr. Madeiros? position is: ?I worked hard for the election and I?m standing by my position?,? said Councillor Butterfield. ?I?m standing with him. As far as I know it was a fair election.?

The letter ? signed by aldermen David Dunkley and William Black and councillors Carvel Van Putten, George Grundmuller, Courtland Boyle and Graeme Outerbridge ? claims that election rules were changed at Mr. Madeiros? instigation, giving him an unfair advantage over mayoral opponent Sonia Grant.

This newspaper revealed last week that Miss Grant had launched a legal bid to have the election result declared void. She said yesterday that the allegation made in the letter over election rules formed part of her petition.

The row centres on whether companies, associations and partnerships should have been allowed to change the name of the person or nominee registered to vote on their behalf after the election date was announced. Miss Grant said that a person could not be registered after notice of the election was published and that if they were they could not vote.

Returning officer and lawyer John Cooper told the Bermuda Sun newspaper this week that the practice was perfectly legal but Miss Grant said: ?The returning officer is not the registering officer and he has no right to meddle with the election register.

?It is totally out of order and it brings about a lot of confusion.?

According to Miss Grant, the registering officer is Corporation of Hamilton Secretary Kelly Miller. Miss Miller said last night that the Corporation?s attorneys had verified the returning officer?s opinion that the election was conducted properly.

Miss Miller said she was given a copy of the aldermen and councillors? letter. ?To my knowledge the Mayor has not resigned,? she added.

The letter says: ?It is our belief that you interfered with the election process on October 26, 2006, for the mayoral election. On your initiative, the election rules were changed and the process was compromised since the other party was not informed in due course. This created a situation where one candidate had an undue advantage over the other and in turn compromised the integrity of the election.

?Your actions have brought disrepute to the Corporation of Hamilton and as a result we cannot support you any longer. We therefore ask that you resign from your position as Mayor of Hamilton effective immediately.?

Mr. Butterfield said he was not asked to sign the letter. ?I think Mr. Madeiros followed the protocol and I think Mr. Madeiros did his homework,? he said. ?I think Mr. Madeiros took legal advice. When I saw that letter I thought of Caesar.

?I have not been aware of one person that said the election was anything but normal. It is most unfortunate that something like the Corporation of Hamilton has got into this difficult situation.

?It seems they are all saying: ?Mayor, you resign or we are stepping down.?

Mr. Butterfield said he wasn?t sure if the Mayor could carry on if the majority of aldermen and councillors stepped down. The Corporation can operate as a quorum but, according to Miss Grant, that would require the Mayor to have the support of two aldermen and two councillors.

At the moment, Mr. Maderois, whose election win led to his alderman position falling vacant, is backed only by Mr. Butterfield.

Mr. Madeiros beat former Deputy Mayor Miss Grant by 161 votes to 124 on election night. A friend of Jay Bluck, who died in September after four months as Mayor, he pledged to achieve their shared vision for the city. Alderman Black would not comment last night. Alderman Dunkley and the four councillors could not be contacted.