More mayors

One of the constitutional reforms that gets little attention is directly elected mayors. A report from the New Local Government Network (NLGN) champions the idea for city regions.

With the government’s plans for regional assemblies in England dead in the water following the North East referendum defeat in November 2004, the door is now open for the extension of the directly elected mayor idea to other towns and cities. John Prescott, who has supported assembly style regional devolution since the late 1970s, but who has been cool on the idea of mayors, expressed a change of heart following the NE referendum. It was no surprise therefore when plans to re-examine the case for directly elected mayors as a means of providing stronger leadership at a local level were included in Labour’s 2005 manifesto. Publications from Prescott’s department recognised the success of mayors, and his urban policy adviser went on record supporting their introduction in urban hubs that go beyond traditional city boundaries. In terms of policy innovation, the success of the congestion charge proves (in parallel with the differences in policy output from the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly compared to Westminster) that sub-national governing structures within the United Kingdom can be successful policy greenhouses. Moreover, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson have enjoyed a very high level of visibility, and the increased public knowledge about who is responsible for local service delivery means that accountability can undoubtedly be strengthened. The conjunction of a lack of desire for elected regional assemblies, and Ken/Boris’s success, may well mean that the time is ripe to usher in a new dawn for local democracy in the shape of mayors of city-regions, with strategic responsibility for public policy.

The Times reports on the NLGN report here.