OUTSPOKEN AMERICAN ACTOR Alec Baldwin has told the New York Times that he will not run for mayor of the city in the next election.

For the moment he is concentrating on his television career but, during the interview, the 53-year-old made his long-term political ambitions clear.

The Long Island native’s name has been circling the New York political sphere as a possible 2013 candidate since a sex scandal destroyed Congressman Anthony Weiner’s mayoral hopes.

His resignation has blown the 2013 race wide open but Baldwin has already ruled himself out.

He said he thinks he should go back to school to learn what the job is about and is already in talks with two universities about a master’s programme. He told the paper he would consider running in a later election.

Asked if he thought his own scandals – a messy divorce with Kim Basinger and a controversial voicemail message in which he called his daughter Ireland a ‘pig’ – would harm his chances, Baldwin said, “What I do for a living has provided people with an almost bottomless container of video clips of me doing the most asinine things.” However, he is confident he will be able to handle the criticism if and when it comes.

Last month, Baldwin attracted attention for comments he made about British Prime Minister David Cameron. During the News Corp phone hacking scandal the ’30 Rock’ actor called on the PM to resign, telling his Twitter followers that England was “filled” with people who could do a better job.