Deputy mayor of Basingstoke and Dean Cllr Phil Heath has been voted mayor elect.
His nomination was approved at a full council meeting on Thursday last week.
However, the would-be-mayor has to overcome a series of obstacles in his bid to become the borough's first citizen.
Cllr Heath has urged the ruling Conservative council to publicly come out in support of him taking the top civic position.
Despite getting the nod, he said he was not confident that he will get the council’s full support at its annual meeting next May, when the formal mayoral election will take place.
He said: “In theory, I am the mayor elect, but there is no guarantee that if I win my seat I will supported as the mayor.
“The public have the right to know who the next mayor will be and Thursday’s vote was, in my eyes, inconclusive and I can't trust the Conservatives to support me.”
In next year’s local elections, Cllr Heath needs to ensure he retains his seat at Hatch Warren and Beggarwood.
The former Conservative is now an independent councillor for Basingstoke Community Party.
He said: “For an independent, it is an almost impossible task to win elections, but it is a fight that I relish and I have been asked by many people to carry on.
“I have done this for 19 years and if residents vote me out then that's fine, it's their democratic decision.”
It is convention that the post of mayor is handed to the longest-serving borough councillor.
Cllr Heath had been due to become mayor earlier this year, but four complaints had been made against him relating to his conduct and the Tories argued these should prevent him taking up the post.
In the elections in May, 30 councillors – all Conservatives – voted against Cllr Heath becoming mayor. Three others abstained and 25 voted for him – all Liberal Democrats, Labour and independents.
However, council leader Andrew Finney said voting in the mayor was a personal choice for councillors.
He said: “This is not a party issue, it is an individual issue without party discipline.
“Hopefully, by the time we get to May Cllr Heath will have completed the standards hearing and removed any barriers to him taking up the role of mayor.
“It is my job to make sure that the top civic office we have is taken up in the right and proper way.”
Cllr Heath has been cleared of one complaint against him, found guilty of another and is awaiting a re-hearing on two others.
Now he has called on councillors on the Conservative group on the council to make up their minds about whether they want him in the top civic job.
“If they do not want me to be mayor, they should come out an say so, and confirm that if I do win my seat they will support me,” he added.
