Mayoral frontrunner Sir Peter Soulsby has set out his vision for the future of Leicester.

Previewing his manifesto – due to be launched next week – he promised the biggest overhaul of city politics for decades.

The city will go to the polls on May 5, and choose an elected mayor for the first time. The mayor will oversee a £500 million budget and thousands of staff.

Sir Peter said safeguards on the city's green spaces were not strong enough and that he would lobby the Government to give him extra powers to designate parts of land as completely out of bounds to developers.

This would include the "green wedges" of land around the city and land along the canal and riverside.

He admits some of his policies rely on the coalition Government granting the mayor extra powers in the localism bill which is going through parliament at the moment.

Sir Peter wants to take control of transport in the city, with the same powers Boris Johnson has over the capital's transport system.

He said: "At the moment, it's a free-for-all. Private bus operators cherry-pick the profitable routes and the council is left to prop up the unprofitable ones.

"With control over transport I'd make it an obligation on firms to provide a good city-wide service rather than focusing on highly-profitable routes and ignoring others."

Sir Peter also said he wanted to turn Leicester into a low-carbon city, where public and private green initiatives are given council backing.

He also wants to be given powers to oversee and scrutinise the city's new consortium of GPs, which will commission health services in the future.

A crackdown on employers who pay less than the minimum wage will also be revived. He said: "It's something I targeted when I was leader of the council and we'll do it again."

This would focus on those working in factories around the city and those people who work from home.

Sir Peter will also campaign for a living wage for people in Leicester. A living wage is a higher rate of pay than the minimum wage, seen as the level at which an individual can have a decent quality of life rather than simply getting by.

He said: "As mayor, I'll be working with local businesses and other agencies to encourage them to pay a living wage so that living standards of some of the lowest-paid people in Leicester can be raised."

Sir Peter declined to say whether he would begin by introducing it at the city council if elected. He said that the cabinet team that would make key decisions alongside him in the city will be small – about four or five-strong – but will have full job descriptions and working hours.

He said: "There won't be any of the confusion seen in the past. Cabinet members will be expected to work a minimum number of hours each week, they'll have to be available to the public for a set amount of time, their roles will be set out in detail for the first time, and it will be clear who the buck stops with for issues happening in every department across the council."

Sir Peter said councillors would also be required to publicly declare – in more detail than ever before – their business and personal interests.

He said: "When a councillor votes in a particular way the public has a right to know of anything at all that has played a part in that decision. All councils have a register of member interests, but this will go much further by requiring information on the interests of wider family members and business associates.

"Anything that might be seen to be relevant to a councillor's work must be on there. I plan on running a very open administration."