HERE’S a toast to His Majesty, King Elizabeth! No. It doesn’t sound right, does it? It would be silly, if not downright insulting to the most prominent woman in Britain. Yet Darlingtonians will soon have to start addressing the borough’s most prominent woman as though she was a man. Tradition here insists that mayors are male even when they aren’t. And Councillor Cyndi Hughes is next in line to become the town’s first citizen, starting in May. The council website says: “The Mayor should be addressed, irrespective of gender, as Mr Mayor .” Why? Because that’s the way it’s always been, from the days when women weren’t even allowed to vote for councillors, let alone be one.